10 Things I Hate about Christmas

I’ll summarize my list of 10 things that I hate about Christmas below, just in case you haven’t got time to read them. You might be in a rush to join the masses on their annual pilgrimage to the shopping mall, to find gifts for all.

1. TV and radio programming

2. TV Christmas movies and sitcoms

3. Junk mail and all Christmas advertising

4. Family gatherings

5. Eating to excess

6. Drinking to excess

7. Christmas and the temperature

8. Shopping centre mayhem

9. Boxing Day sales

10. Closed shops

1. TV and radio programming

What I hate about Christmas is TV and radio programming. In Australia it is usually called the summer break period for television and radio.

On the television you get to see all your favorite TV shows end a few weeks before Christmas. Then you get all these weird and usually rubbish shows that they over advertise for you to watch. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing like seeing a repeat of your favorite show, but when you can almost recite the show word for word then enough is enough.

For shows like Better Homes and Gardens, you get to see their summer time special. This is where they put segments from previous shows, mixed up and put into one television show. This is like seeing TV shows on autopilot and again the repeats drive me crazy.

The same repeats are heard over the radio airwaves. You can hear “the best of” breakfast or talk back radio. This is when all the so called radio stars, the shock jocks of radio, go on a long holiday break. This is when you hear all the repeats to send you insane. Oh and you could also here summer count down play lists, like 1000 of the best rock songs of all time. They songs are in no real particular order and they seem to find rock songs from artist that you have never heard of singing songs you don’t want to hear again.

2. TV Christmas movies and sitcoms

I know, I could have bundled this one up into the previous point, but it needed its own section. What I hate about Christmas is TV Christmas movies and sitcoms.

You know the ones, they play them year in year out. Yep, dust the old cobwebs off that DVD because who doesn’t want to see The Santa Clause again (starring Tim Allen). Why wouldn’t I like to see Home Alone 1 to 50 again (starring Macaulay Culkin).

These Christmas TV movies drive me spare! The TV executives must have limited budgeting or exhibit the creativity of a dung beetle (apologies to the Picasso influenced dung beetles out there).

And how many times can we endure the excruciating pain of seeing any comedy movie from the 1980’s to the 1990’s with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it? You know what I am talking about, “It’s not a Tumor!”, Kindergarten Cop, Junior, Twins.

Then there are the TV Christmas sitcoms that are only shown over the Christmas holidays. They are the ones with the ghost or spirit of Christmas past. We get to endure the pain of the main character going on a moral roller coaster ride to see that if they don’t change their habits of today then their future will not turn out great. Boo hoo, why do these Christmas sitcoms always run on the same boring formula, do bad today and end up homeless in the future? Can we get fed any more crap like this?

3. Junk mail and all Christmas advertising

What I hate about Christmas is junk mail and all Christmas advertising. The amount of junk mail that keeps getting stuffed in my letter box is more than enough for my kitty litter tray liner stock pile. My crazy cat must have a joyous time thinking of all the messy things it can blurt out of its backside to soil the pages of the Christmas time specials! Either that or he gets anxiety attacks just from the sight of the junk mail stockpile growing daily beside his litter tray.

Junk mail arrived in all shapes and sizes, from companies that I’ve never seen junk mail before selling products that I’d certainly never buy as Christmas presents. These companies are trying to cash in on the Christmas spending bonanza.

Christmas advertising in general is all about trying to sell the idea that Christmas is magical time and a wonderful gift giving experience should be had by all. The advertising tries to sell Santa Clause and snow to the tropics. The advertising tries to sell love, joy and happiness to thousands of homeless people and poor families who can’t scrape enough food together on a normal day, for a decent meal, let alone a lavish Christmas day banquet. The same advertising promotes the latest Wii game as a stocking filler and forgets the true religious meaning behind Christmas day.

So you can see my cynicism against Christmas advertising when we are bombarded with junk advertising ad nauseum for at least a month up to the day of importance.

4. Family gatherings

Okay, Christmas is supposed to be a time of family get-togethers however we all know that there is enough dysfunctionality in most families where family get-togethers can go astray. Even if your immediate family is “okay” there is always some distant relative that gets your goat.

Most Christmas times around the world are marked by extreme weather conditions (in Australia it is one of the hottest times of the year). Now combine all members of your family that haven’t gotten together for quite some time (maybe since last Christmas) and you have a recipe for disaster. Maybe it’s a drunken Auntie or Uncle, or a mother-in-law who criticizes the way you have cooked the Christmas roast, but it is usually someone in your family who stresses you out at Christmas.

I like to keep Christmas simple and low key because what I hate about Christmas is family gatherings.

5. Eating to excess

What I hate about Christmas is eating to excess. Over a time frame of less than a week we’ll eat about what could be consumed in a month (possible exaggeration). Yes, there are starving people and families in the world who don’t know what this experience is like. Do we really need to eat to excess during this time just because it is Christmas? Can we go without? Should we eat less? I believe the answer is yes!

We usually eat on Christmas day, roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, cold turkey slices with cranberry sauce, cold ham slices with apple sauce, coleslaw, salad, potato salad, prawns (shrimp), steak, sausages, fish, plain nuts, roast vegetables, Christmas pudding with brandy custard, baked cheesecake, sweets, chocolate coated nuts, sugar coated nuts etc etc.

Yes we usually eat until we feel sick, while others around the world are sick because they don't have anything to eat. Take a look at Beth100’s hub on What is Eaten Around the World in One Week. It compares with pictures the amount of food consumed by various families around the world, in one week. The poorer family gets through the week by eating less and I am sure we could still celebrate Christmas by eating half the amount we usually eat during this time.

6. Drinking to excess

I usually like this one, until the next day, therefore what I hate about Christmas is drinking to excess. Maybe it is to block out the thought of family gatherings or the bombardment of alcohol specials on TV has finally worked but I end up drinking my body weight in alcohol. I try to empty my liver of bile after consuming enough alcohol that would kill a small camel.

But seriously, drinking to excess during this time of the year can lead to more prevalent problems. Drink driving is the largest cause of road fatality in the holiday period. If you are planning a big night on beer/wine/spirits because you have more time off work, or the temperature is too hot, or you are celebrating the festivities that little bit too hard, please make sure you keep your alcohol consumption in moderation.

7. Christmas and the temperature

In Australia the temperature averages approximately 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the Christmas period. This temperature can be felt from as far south as Melbourne and to Darwin in the north. Combine this temperature with roasts in the oven and family arguments and the whole notion of Christmas becomes a hot and bothersome event.

Yes we can escape to the pool, creek or beach, but this is only temporary. Air conditioners while they lower the temperature they raise the power bill.

It’s a hot affair which is why I hate Christmas and the temperature.

8. Shopping centre mayhem

This is a huge, pet hate of mine. Shopping centre mayhem is why I hate Christmas. Even if you aren’t shopping for very many gifts or you are just doing your regular grocery shopping you’ll hate this time of year in any shopping centre.

You can’t escape people and their trolleys (carts), it’s like everyone has planned their shopping trip on the same day that you have. Even if you are there when the doors open or leave it till the shop is about to close (lunchtime is impossible), your blood will boil with the stress from the number of other shoppers in your way.

I know, I know, you feel like jamming your shopping trolley (cart) into the back of the ankles of that fellow shopper who has just stopped mid stride to check out a pair of leopard printed pantyhose hanging from an impulse buy rack. I mean who needs that crap.

I have a plan of attack, (probably the attribute of being male), when I go shopping. I have a hand sketch of the shopping center floor plan. I have a route marked out on the floor plan of the quickest way to navigate to my planned purchases. The last thing I need when I go shopping is an influx of ebb and flow from the shopping masses hindering my navigation path.

9. Boxing Day sales

Boxing Day sales are why I hate Christmas. Yes, I could have combined this point with the previous one but I have personal experience with Boxing Day sales and I will never go again.

I was looking at buying a microwave oven before Christmas, and found the particular brand and model that I was after. It wasn’t on any catalogue or store special, just your regular price, so I decided to wait for the illustrious Boxing Day sales. I thought that it surely should be reduced on this day.

Boxing Day arrived. I humored the ridicules crowds and made a bee line straight to my picked out microwave oven. Low and behold the price had not been reduced but in fact the price had increased. Why you may ask was I infuriated? The increased price was on a new sale label which had made out that it was cheaper than before Christmas yet it was not. The saving grace for me was the pre Christmas price was mistakenly left on the side of the unit, which I promptly showed the cashier and they had to honor this price. Hooray!

So my lesson is thus, Boxing Day sales are a huge gimmick, a rip off to the unsuspecting. You may get one or two bargains on marked or damaged stock but make sure you research pre Christmas prices before you fork out your hard earned cash on a supposed bargain.

10. Closed shops

This point sounds contradictory to the previous two points, but it is not the shopping centers that I care about closing over the Christmas period, it is the specialty shops and services that I wish remained open. Closed shops are why I hate Christmas.

It’s those jobs that you’d love to get done because you now have the time off to organize them however you discover everyone else is also taking a nice break off. I am talking about mechanics, lawn mower shops, boat yards, welding shops etc all these specialty shops and services that you ‘d love to chew the fat with, but can’t. You’ll just have to wait till you go back to work, so you can organize to get your car serviced, and you’ll have to take time off during working hours to do so.

Final word...

That's my end of year gripe! Merry Christmas to all, hope you have a wonderful time off, please enjoy yourself and think of others. Thankyou to my fans! May your Amazon accounts prosper with sales and your stocking be stuffed with Adsense revenue!