Christmas and all that

Yes I know the countdown doesn't match my layout but what can I do? Malaysia had never had a white christmas anyway, but there's always sun and sand here! =P

So anyway, 17 days til Christmas, another beautiful, fun, loving, happy, family holiday over-commercialized and turned into a tacky day for no other reason than to get people to spend their hard-earned money on useless ornamental things and presents that no one cares about just for the sake of letting them feel gratified that they received a present.

Hmm...sounds cynical, doesn't it?

Look, I love Christmas just as much as any other person, in fact, I love it more for it's true meaning and purpose, not for the meaningless, cheap gift-giving. We can't all afford to get good presents to everyone, so we end up buying cheap, useless stuff just so everyone we know will have some small trinket from us. That's not the point!!

It's not about how expensive the present is, nor it is about everyone receiving a small little useless something from you that you probably bought in bulk, because it was a christmassy thing. Whatever.

It used to be about love, about effort. How about just giving presents to your close loved ones? Hand-made stuff? Knit a sweater, crochet a bag, make a personalized bookmark. It doesn't have to be expensive. Or if you're a klutz when it comes to handmade stuff, how about buying something you know the person wants or needs? A book for a bookworm, yarn for a knitter, tools for a gardener, etc. I'm sure you know your loved ones better. Now we're giving presents to every Tom, Dick, and Harry, and we are in effect, spending a lot more money on presents that these people will open, ooh and ahh over in your presence, thank you for, and chuck in a corner once they reach home, because it's basically useless. What is the point?!

You know, if everyone who was going to spend RM10-20 on useless presents for me gave me the money instead, I could go and buy something useful. In fact, if they saved the money for themselves, and allowed me to save my money for myself, we could just get ourselves good presents, and just pretend that everyone else contributed to our wonderful, useful items. Blek...

I used to really love Christmas...now if it wasn't for all the Christmas trees infesting all the places I go to, the Christmas songs, and lights, and the fact that all the prices are marked up, I'd hardly remember that Christmas was here. Who took the fun out of Christmas?