CRANKY CURMUDGEON CONTEMPLATES CONQUERING CHRISTMAS COMMERCIALISM!

No, it's not Ebenezer Scrooge......OR the Grinch.  It's just me. For some reason, this year more than ever, I'm having a hard time adjusting to what the media is doing to my holiday. This struggle to maintain the Christmas spirit on my own terms and wean myself from the politically correct version of the celebration is becoming a learning experience.  I've adapted my habits to accommodate my increasing disdain for commercialism and love for family and tradition.

The first thing I need to do is stay away from those radio stations that claim to be my 'Home For the Holidays'.  Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas music, and anyone who is related to me will attest to this with a roll of the eyes as I can get carried away with my decades of tunes conveniently on a playlist on my Ipod.  However, I don't begin playing those tunes on Halloween!  Those radio holiday music players are only on in my car for the twenty minutes I commute to and from work each day.  So how can I be sick of hearing Jimmy Durante singing Frosty the Snowman when there is still more time before Christmas gets here?  With all due respect, I choose not to own that recording because it's not one I would care to listen to without seeing the television special........ditto for Burl Ives's Holly Jolly Christmas......and Boris Karloff's You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.  ...and as much as I like the music of Michael Jackson, I don't want to hear his version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus every day either. These tunes seem to be playing every time I am in the car!  Nope, I play my carefully selected tunes from my own library and get filled with joy and poignance as I reminisce with old family favorites as well as my own Christmas tunes from the past and present.  I prepare for the upcoming celebration and remember all the joyous ones that preceded this one.

Another thing I also try to do is avoid watching commercial television, a very difficult task indeed.  No, my friends, every kiss does NOT begin with KAY!  I will not know any more if I KOHL'S than I know right now!  I will not be buying anyone a new car! No, I will not grow tired of the season just because networks decide to air ten commercials consecutively during each break.  I'll walk away and ignore all the noise, and I raised four kids...believe me I am an expert at tuning out the noise!  If I can't walk away I'll try the next best alternative at which I have become proficient.......dozing in my chair.    Those ads certainly can't depress me if I don't acknowledge them, now can they?!

Now, I’m not one to complain….wait a minute!   Yes, I am!.  In fact, I gave up complaining for Lent one year and it almost killed me.  I would precede every grumble with, “This is NOT a complaint, but…..” 

So, this is not a complaint, BUT, today is only December 13, 2011 and I heard this on one of the holiday stations:  “Here’s a preview of some of the great music you’ll hear as soon as Christmas is over,” and they proceeded to play snippets of three songs and repeated, “Yes, as soon as Christmas is over, we’ll return to the music you love.”  I do love the music, but………..

It’s making me so sad.  They’re saying that  the day after Christmas there will be no more Christmas ……oh, I’m sorry……..holiday music; there will already be Christmas….oh, I’m sorry…holiday trees piling up at the drop off site in my town; and some folks will have stopped lighting their houses, though the season runs for a couple more weeks.  I refuse to get depressed.

     You know the perennial favorite, White Christmas?  Well, here's what the world's done to it:

    

   The songs are playing,

   The stores look bright,

   The ads on TV bring change,

   The season of haste's in range

In print, on the screen, it's strange.

Cause it’s October the thirty-first

  And the powers that be do thirst.

They’re dreaming of a bland Christmas

Just like the ones that bring the dough

  Where Black Friday’s on Thursday

      It’s now retail-ers day

And fam’ly traditions start to go.

             Their hol-iday just gets stranger

             With every Symbol gone away

             Where the Wise Men, and Manger, and Child

             Get the non believers hot and riled.


 

Well, in a year of major change in my household and my family, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the memories, the faith, and the family.  If the season was all about putting retailers in the black and starting the so called public holiday in the summer and ending it on Christmas Day, I'd be seriously depressed.  So, I decorate with traditional Christmas fare.  There  IS a Nativity scene, a CHRISTMAS tree, a plethora of Christmas films and television episodes on DVD for commercial free viewing at my convenience. There is a family that, despite loss, begins to rejuvenate with my children's loves and an expected grandchild.  There is a Christmas Eve dinner where the prayers of the family are heard with soft guitar Christmas music playing on the IPod and Christmas lights and candles light the scene.  We were fortunate enough to have 22 family members at our home around our Thanksgiving table and all who are available will join us for Christmas dinner.  The Season will be celebrated beyond New Year's Day in this house.   

So, bring it on world, I'll not succumb to the politically correct way to celebrate.  I'll embrace my family and friends with varied customs and beliefs as they celebrate, and I'll say with love to all I know, as a man who has known many blessings, 

                           MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

The Bonanno Family CHRISTMAS TREE 2011



Our Nativity scene was a gift to my wife Jackie from a now deceased relative.  After a few years of displaying chipped pieces, I freshened them up with a little carving and a new coat of paint.