it has begun

if you are sitting near a tv or radio, quick, turn it on and wait for a commercial. what do you hear? crimmus advertising. i know it actually began at the beginning of the month, because i remember starting to hear commercials and music on halloween. the silly season gets here earlier and earlier every year. i've got mixed feelings about the holidays. on one hand, i enjoy the cheer and family time and the overall pleasant demeanor of everyone, but on the other hand, i hate the advertising and the corporateness and the expectations. i'm not a complete scrooge, because it's nice to hang out with family (in small doses). but i've been pushing, for years now to give up gift giving with my family. we all make enough money that we usually end up buying the things we really want ourselves and then struggle to put together a list of viable items that someone else will spend their money on that i don't really need. this also causes my mother to get upset b/c no one ever puts together a list until it's to late and anything that does show up on the list is out of everyone's price range. i don't need the ferrari, but you asked for a list, so i want five of them. or else i end up with clothing that i'll never wear or ends up getting put in the back of the closet in a box because i don't want to hurt someone's feelings by taking it back. the whole practice is a double edged sword, because you don't want to upset anyone by saying "hey, not a single present i opened contained a single thing on my list". now i'm stuck with designer socks and plaid shirts and a movie that i'd never buy, but you can't say that you didn't want any of these items and you certainly can't reinforce that argument by mentioning that you didn't want to trade gifts to start with. that just makes you the asshole. the problem is, my siblings and i are at ages where we don't need presents, but our kids do, so since we are getting them gifts, we feel obligated to get each other a warm beanie with a fuzzy ball on a string. then there's the problem of finding something for my parents who have everything. i can always use a palm pilot or a new computer (*cough*alienware*cough*), but they have everything. and i mean, everything. so we either end up getting them something cheap or something overly expensive. the cheap item is interesting. it's almost like they don't bother even opening it. they just take the item and while we are all sitting there, put it on a top shelf in the hall closet. it's that "i told you i don't need anything and now you got me something cheap and i'm done trying to play this game politely and wait until you've left before i put it in a closet somewhere and forget about it" game and no one is upset by the game and everyone expects the game, but it's friggin' crimmus, so it's time to play the game. if it's overly expensive, then it usually means a few hours to put it together and wire it up and it'll get used, but it means sacrificing our kid's college fund to do it. all because we have to buy gifts to keep the holidays happy even though we should just forget about the gift giving and just spend quality time together watching 'dude, where's my car?'. like every good family should...

it's more torture on my little sister, because she doesn't live here with us. she hates where she lives and has always been a family girl. she left here to go there for a job and loves the job, but hates the town and misses her family. she just knows that in a week's time, she's gotta go back to that shitty town where her homesickness has been patiently brewing and waiting for her. and the rest of us hate to see her leave, cause she's the only one that laughs in this family. the rest of us are miserable fucks by 2 in the afternoon and want to just sulk in our chairs watching the game while eating for 9.5 hours straight.

and i know that none of this sounds alien to anyone. i'm sure you all have the same type of day, but why not change things up a bit? do something different. try the no gift thing one year and see if we all survive. if it doesn't work, there's always next year. i have three beanies, i don't need another one.

i do have to admit that i still love stockings. my mom, uh, i mean santa, always puts time in on these and we get great little trinkets like gourmet coffee and enough M&Ms to choke a reindeer and the odd toys that i think she buys in flea markets, but those are always cool.

i just think it's time to start new traditions. giving up gifts (which i guess is what this post has turned into) doesn't mean giving up family time and fun. it just means we'll be able to pay our electricity bill in december and january.