By Norm(an) De Plume
Ah, it's a white Christmas again! Surely you know what a white Christmas is? Of course you do. But for those of you who are not 'in the know', a white Christmas is when the snow appears INSIDE the shop windows in the city. In other words, the pharmacies are now out of cotton wool, which are now glued on the aforesaid windows.
Let's not forget the slimmer-than-conventional Santas who roam around. It appears that the 'thin is in' mentality has reached the North Pole too. Or has it? These Santas look a wee bit too dark to be from that part of the world.
My point? Commercialization. Not even Christmas has escaped it. I know that the whole notion of a Christmas with snow and all is traditional and very appealing, but isn't this taking it a bit too far? Shouldn't the spirit of Christmas be emphasized rather than its aesthetics?
Of course, the spirit of giving is kept alive in certain quarters, but most advertisements would have us believe that it is the spirit of spending that counts. Well, I suppose it can be interpreted as 'giving' as in giving to the advertisers or the shop-owners or whatever. But somehow, I don't think that is what was intended.
I've always liked this time of the year. No snow perhaps, but it certainly is cooler than usual. And of course, it's the holidays! But there is one, well, two things that can sometimes dampen the whole thing. The TV and the Radio. Why, oh WHY must they repeat shows? It's not really the season for those of us who like the occasional shootout, fight and car chase on the telly, but most of us can enjoy a good Christmas movie. But not when it's the same thing year after year after year.... Where's the fun when you know how the movie is going to end? Wait, I forgot. It doesn't make a difference- you can usually predict how these movies end five minutes into the film.
Personally speaking, the radio provides more of a traumatic experience for me. Either, every time you turn the radio on, it's this moron who keeps on singing 'Last Christmas I gave you my heart blah blah...' - basically the same tune he sang last year. Don't people ever learn? You think that he would be singing a follow-up by now. E.g. - "Last Christmas I gave you my heart, so I really don't have one to give away this year and can I please have it back?" or "Last Christmas I gave another girl my heart, she turned to be as bad as the last, this year I'm going to keep it to myself" or, keeping with the commercial spirit of things - " Last Christmas I took back my heart, I'm in the organ-donor market now, this year, I'm going to give it to the highest bidder".
The other problem with radio is that they play the old songs. I have nothing against them, only my aunts feel compelled to sing along. And when they start.... I really could do with those ear-mufflers they show in the Christmas movies. Happy Holidays!
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