Tuesday 20 December 2011

The System at Christmas

It's christmas, but I aint merry.
Feel like christmas, look like halloween.
Shit, gets shitter, but I aint bitter.
This aint no scrooge, this is real talk.


One of my friends posted that on facebook on Sunday - now I'm feeling a lot like somebody needs to remind me of the meaning of Christmas cheer.

I read on Yahoo! news today that there's a store that exists somewhere in the world where they sell Christmas stock all year round, in other words, its Christmas every day there. Which would be great, if Christ really was born on every day of the year.

I
mean, seriously? Is it just me, or has Christmas blown all out of proportion since I was a kid? True, when I was a kid, a lot of the important shit flew straight over my head, so maybe I'm just noticing it all now. But it doesn't even matter, because whether the xmas hype is recent or ancient, the way The System (a compilation of the media, the government, the police, the law, and every authority in the world that bullshits you) manipulates the population into a Spend-Spend-Spend consumerism frenzy is kind of... disgusting.

I am not Christian, neither am I atheist or any other religion, (I hold certain beliefs on religion and God but now's not the time to get into it. Anyone who knows me knows how easily little Star can get carried away) - but at the end of the day, I live in England and it's a Christian country. So it's a bit shocking when Santa is more popular than Jesus at this time of year, like the whole thing has lost its meaning. Not too shocking, mind you, the System screws us over a hell of a lot of the time - but I just feel like I'm being roped in. Which is dumb because I would still celebrate Christmas regardless, but taking into account that this year I spent more than usual plus I'm working on days I would be at home, I guess the glumness is making me wonder when everything will reach a climax, and Christmas will be so ridiculous that it'll be as non-existent as Pancake day. (Mmm, I love Pancake Day.)
A LITTLE RANT ON SANTA. 
Completely absurd is the belief that ONE MAN can travel the globe and deliver presents to every single child before they get up on Christmas Day - remembering that China is overpopulated, this is complete FARCE and to feed this story to your children is cruel. (Don't get me started on the tooth fairy.) There are many reasons why the concept of Santa is full of baloney. 
  • Santa has always been depicted as white. There are many many races in the world - China probably see their Santa as Chinese, France as a Frenchman, and so on. It's too convenient.
  • You mean to tell me that an overweight man could complete such a task? He's be knocked out by the time he'd done a fifth of Europe.
  • Why would you want a stranger sneaking around in your house and leaving boxes like a terrorist anyway?
  • When I was younger, I told my teacher that my house didn't have a chimney, therefore how would Santa get in. My teacher then proceeded to tell me this beautiful bullshit story about Santa's Magic Key that can open any door in the world. From that very moment, I knew that someone was fuckin' around with me, because if he had that key from the start, why the HELL would he bother with the chimney. He can't even bloody fit down it.
Rant done. Learn your lesson.
Even with other holidays; Hallowe'en, Easter - Halloween decorations appear from the start of September, Easter from what, late February? Somebody on Yahoo! news amusedly posted that actually, in the shop where they work, they get Easter eggs in when Christmas is finished. Man. So it really is all year round.

I sigh at consumerism fuckery.

Regardless, I do love the glee and excitement at Christmas, even if I can't fully take part in it - and I'm still looking forward to some things that happen every Christmas without fail; my mama buying too much food; watching Home Alone 2, which plays every year and is probably my favourite movie to watch at Christmas; all of us trying to sit down and do family things and then somebody ending up arguing and/or in a strop (- many years this has been me, as I have a big family and the rowdiness gets too much).

Other than that, what else is there to look forward too? Unlike previously, this year I'm 19 and for the first time ever since babyhood, not in education. So I'm WORKING. I know. I wanna fucken laugh. I'm not working New Year's Eve because I don't work Saturdays, but if Christmas had fallen on a Wednesday, I'd be working bloody Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, and probably New Years' as well! A Christian country, really? I tell ya...

My guilty pleasure: buying presents. I have been nomiated as the best present-wrapper in my family, and I do admit that I love buying and wrapping presents and making them look like a cute little parcel in cute little wrapping paper. I love the way piles of presents looked together when shoved loving in a cute lil' corner on Christmas Eve. Almost makes me not wanna open them.

... almost. I'm not an idiot.

In the Metro newspaper, (which I vow to eventually stop reading, they're filling my head with stupid rubbish that I really didn't give a toss about,) they had calculated the average that most people where likely to spend, and also calculated that people were going to spend a lot of money at Christmas even though it would most likely send them into debt in the new year. This tells me that one, most of the population is stupid, and two, this year I almost joined the ranks of most-of-the-population. The average person this year would spend £128 on presents.

It really, really pains me to say this, (I'm a very good saver and a Thrift Queen, spending money actually physically hurts me,) but buying for three brothers, two sisters, two parents, and four very close friends, with an estimated £10-£20 spend per person, I am already nearing two hundred pounds.


... yep, life sucks, but at least Princessa Jo wrote this poem for me and LuLu;
Warm hands and tall hugs,
Lovely, frothy coffee mugs,
Loud laughs and smiles smiled,
Voices heard from numbers dialled.

Stresses fade as joys are shared,
Calming words from those that care
Expressed wishes to meet again
From friends that share their love til then. 
Love you guys. xx

She's so cute. Love you too, Jo.

Okay, that's quite enough. The next post will be fiction, I swear.

With love from an alias I used whist trying to battle stress;
The ShanStar xx

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