Christmas??!!

[Lee H]

its October 2004 and park hampers are ADVERTISING their 2005 catalogue.

DIE DIE DIE.

On a even WORSE note - When I used to work for M&S they used to plan for XMAS in Feb and my mum works at a bakery that supplies M&S with mince pies and various other food outlets and they have been cooking them since April.

Christmas has become 100% commercialised and must be reclaimed

[TiG]

Guys, do you go round with blinkers on the rest of the year then?, there are constant adverts for everything all year round. Have you not noticed the use of football to sell pretty much anything, (e.g MG/Rover Advert)

So what if they use Christmas to try and sell goods?, shouldn't have to wind you up so much, its a natural thing for companies to do everything they can to sell goods, if they think Christmas can do that for them then they will target it.

Christmas is about the people you spend it with, Friends and family. The giving of gifts is important within the scheme of Christmas, maybe the concept of giving a gift without expecting one in return has been somewhat broken with increase of consumerism.

My point is that why stop "bleeding the worlds precious resources." as Zedmeister would put it just at Christmas, its one point of the year.

Christmas is not a time to get angry and if you feel angry, you need to go and watch some small children open their presents who still believe in the magic of christmas, as i'm sure there is nothing better than this to change the way you feel about Christmas.

TiG

[Whalefish]

The other year I watched two women fighting over a multipack of crisps in Sainsburys on Christmas Eve, that more or less typifies what Christmas has become. Forget 'peace and goodwill to all' it is now a tacky sham.

[Zedmeister]

TiG - I largely agree. I would want nothing more than to see the magic brought back, watching as children open their presents to whoops of joy and indeed I still do have a good time during the few weeks of the chrismtas period (Unbelievable judging from my rant! )

Its the fact the christmas is being morphed into some sort of advert and the magic is rapidly turning into a flimsy facade is what gripes me. The extreme crapulence of it all is terrible. Christmas was once a religious holiday, which i still do celebrate. It really is a shame to see it hi-jacked by consummerism.

[Galant]

I love Christmas, but I feel a bit sorry for the people who just get ticked off. I understand what people say about Christmas being corrupted, but actually, I don't you can 'corrupt Christmas'. Christmas isn't Christmas because of what the shops, media or goverment say about it. They don't have squat to do with Christmas. They have plenty to do with making profit or being PC, but Christmas is still a sacred holiday. As such it's a personal and/or family event and you make it what it is to you. They can't hijack Christmas unless they hijack you!

Personally, I've been thinking about it because of my involvement with a couple of musical groups and we're prepping for the coming concerts. I love the carols - not the overplayed Slade and Wham hits, but the music of Christmas old and modern. Music that conveys the meaning of Christmas for thousands through the centuries. Amazing sentiments and messages, and I can't get enough of stuff. I'm also looking forward to the various get-togethers that wil be happening, getting time off and everyone just being together enjoying the time and being full of joy. I know for many that family isn't what it should be and it's annoying when others seem to get so much out of it, but I think for most people there's a choice. If you want to make it about consumerism then enjoy what you can get from it, but for those who want something more or different from the time of year, maybe it's time to start looking and thinking a little deeper.

Blessings to all of you for the rest of this year - may you all finish out this year with more happiness and joy than you expect to.

[TeePee]

Christmas would be great if it weren't for the religious freaks who try to monopolise it and talk about the real meaning of Christmas. It's been a celebration since before these modern religions existed, so the true meaning of christmas is to spend shed loads of money on your friends and shovel food and alcohol down your gob until you burst.

[Alex]

Christmas would be great if it weren't for the religious freaks who try to monopolise it and talk about the real meaning of Christmas. It's been a celebration since before these modern religions existed, so the true meaning of christmas is to spend shed loads of money on your friends and shovel food and alcohol down your gob until you burst.

Oi! I'd be one of those religious freaks thankyou! (albeit a tipsy one...)

Anywho, as I said in my last post, much as the 'true meaning of christmas' is a celebration of Jesus' birth in the orginal sense (christs's-mass?) the real meaning of Christmas as far as Im concerned is to actually be nice to people for a change. To care for others you wouldn't normally think about, to look after the homeless etc.

In fact, why don't we all make a pledge to give say 5% of our christmas shopping budget to charity this year? That could make a difference to a lot of people...

[Alex]

last year i bought a load of homeless people mc'ds chicken sandwiches on xmas eve, not exactly a huge gesture, but i was drunk, it was freezing, i could of spent my cash on that or a taxi home, so i bought them the food and suffered the walk home in the cold.

Not a huge gesture? Probably made a big difference to whoever you bought the food for...

[TeePee]

Could I have some heroin on mine this year please?

[Ravens Nest]

I like christmas, the only things that get on my nerves is not being able to take any holidays from early november to the start of january and also how busy it can get..