Christmas Break

I used to base my whole year around Christmas. Back then, it was my favorite holiday hands down. Mornings were spent with siblings. Evenings were with relatives. Food, gifts, and one big party. Nothing was better than that. I soon came to see Christmas through a new light. It was one of the few times everyone in our family came together to hang out and have fun. Catch up on recent news and exchange numbers once again. It was heartwarming to see everyone get along. Everyone so young, happy, and full of joy. Life was good, or so it seemed. As everyone grew up, we learned different.
This Christmas was spent upstate. Somewhere I didn’t want to be. As ritualized gifts were received, food was provided, and so were fake smiles. Everyone wanted to be somewhere else. I was thankful but annoyed. Christmas, now, only seemed to be about who got what from who. It was pretty pathetic. No one wanted to spend time with each other anymore; everyone was just waiting for the gifts. After that, they left. Even all my friends greeted me with a ‘Merry Christmas; What did you get?’ As if it mattered. It was just this Christmas where I found out the whole idea of Santa Claus was contrived by Coca Cola. It was all a scheme that carried on with us for some of our childhood years. It’s funny now that I think about it. I used to behave extra good because I wanted gifts from Santa but turns out it was all a lie. The whole idea of Christmas is phony. I never understood why on Jesus’ birthday we give and receive gifts to and from people. To be honest I’d be pretty upset if on my birthday people exchanged gifts to each other while I got nothing. Shouldn’t we be at the very least honoring him? What’s the sense in that. And the whole idea of some guy in a red suit with a white beard, big belly, and bag full of gifts. Doesn’t that sound a bit creepy. I mean, this is a complete stranger braking into your house to leave you gifts. Then you have people imitating him on the streets. Walking around dressed up in a red suit and fake white beard. Funny thing is, most of them are asking for money. The others are just there to say Merry Christmas in the malls but funny thing is, as legend has it. You’re not supposed to see Santa. So... I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get it. The way I see it, you have the corporate media using Santa as a way for ‘entertainment’ to make you go to the stores and buy useless shit. It’s a bit ridiculous. As seen in the movie ‘Elf’, Christmas is supposed to be based on faith and believing (even though it’s not real). I guess the whole idea of not being able to see him makes it all much more exciting, but then again .. what do I know?