This time of the year sucks

I've hated the commercialism of Christmas for years but this year it hit particularly hard. People become so aggressive in the pursuit of that perfect gift for uncle Joe that everything pales in comparison.

I was at Costco [Bad example since people always seem to be aggressive at Costco] last Saturday to pick up Perrier, Lara bars and Pita bread. Everything else was optional. It was hard to find parking on their lot, I had to circle 3 times and I was parked about as far away as you can imagine. Of course the store was also equally as full. Trying to navigate was as frustrating as watching paint dry. I was following a shelf re-stocker and he was moving slow, didn't have a choice with the size of palette he was navigating. A guy appeared behind me and within 15 seconds started berating the clerk about "Not having all day to go down the aisle" etc...

From late November to mid january, you can't go even in a grocery store never mind a retail store without that Christmas frenzy. Everyone is overworked, underpaid and overstressed in making that perfect christmas.

People also glamourize how great being together in family is. Well that might be true for a small segment of the population, but most of us are fooling ourselves into thinking that our family is great. I mean I cannot remember one Christmas when I was a kid where the adults in my family weren't fighting and if I tried to say something I'd be told "shut up and mind your own business" or "Shut up and eat". Meanwhile the adults weren't eating and having a 3 hour fighting discussion that would leave lasting impression until the next Christmas. ... Because of course these same adults didn't see each other any other time then Christmas.


After all the hype, for me Christmas is just a huge disappointment. Even without expectations, it's almost always a disappointment. My happier Christmases have been spent abroad traveling or as a teen sometimes in a ski camp...

Personally if I find someone sucks all year I don't see why I should be nice at Christmas. As it goes, I try to be nice to those who are deserving all year round, not just once a year as a huge show in front of company.

Christmas sucks!