There’s an old George Carlin bit where he rails on people who tell him to “have a nice day.” “It places the burden on ME to go have a nice day...” he’d joke.
Which pretty much sums up the holiday season for me at present. Sure, sure...the tree's up and Pete the dog has a jaunty new winter coat to sniff around in. But me? I’m not feeling it.
I think back to the past 20 years when at this time, I’d be on a train or in a car going up to see my folks in NJ. The holidays weren’t for kicking back in comfort...they were packing a bag, sitting in traffic, dealing with headaches, touching base to be ‘present and accounted for’, and then doing it again on a return trip. Rest stops, fast food, weight gain. Years checked off from your life span.
I began to resent it frankly—the dog and pony show as ritual. Performing like the trained bear in the graphic above...peddling this way and that and losing yourself in the process.
I resent that I resented it and muddled through these visits with my folks because they’re no longer here. I’m angry that I poured through so much wine at dinners which would have my folks wondering if I had a drinking problem. “I only have a drinking problem during the holidays!” I’d say.
But now they are gone and it’s a hollow victory to not face Amtrak delays or schedule changes. But the dog and pony shows remain. Office parties, awkward gifts, the visits, the absolute burden of holiday cheer. The bullshit.
I mean, I want to feel this rarified holiday ‘spirit’...yet, I’m spiritless.
So, as our friend Ed Hamell sings, “...I’m all alone but I’ve got my [records]/let’s think of some stuff we can smash...”
More bullshit: 40 years after John & Yoko’s X-mas single, we’re fighting two wars. 25 years after Band Aid, people are still struggling with hunger.
(Sheez. Should I be expecting a visit from three ghosts?)
Rosie Thomas - Why Can't It Be Christmastime All Year? (Mp3)
The Pale Fountains - Benoit's Christmas (Mp3)
Gangway - Violence, Easter And Christmas (Mp3)
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas (Mp3)
John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Mp3)
