[Closed] Anyone else hate Christmas as much as me?

I hate it because I don't like being told what to do or how to behave but I put on a big smiley face for the Mrs and the kids. It'll all be over in a few hours then it's just a big drinking holiday!

I'm not a fan but I wouldn't say I hate it, that would be me engaging with it. I'm just totally indifferent to it.

I bloody love it, but sorry to hear of your sadness and woes mboy!

Drinks with mates last night, lazy stress free morning today.

Didn't think my mum would make this Christmas and she's had the all clear - went to see her at home yesterday.

Broke tradition and been out for Christmas dinner with Mrs STR and Jnr STR - fabulous meal spread over 3hrs with lots of beer, fizz and wine, great company, walk back over the park - just settling down at home.

Had a manic few weeks at work, not seen the family much and just happy to have a few days at home enjoying the spirit of Christmas

The best Christmas I've ever had was in Fuertaventura when our oldest was 9 months old. We couldn't face the family Christmas with the first grandchild and so buggerred off into the Atlantic. The weather wasn't great, but paella from a shack on a beach fir Christmas lunch was brilliant. Just wish we could do it every year.

I don't do christmas....any of it.Presents,food,decorations etc.Anybody asks and I just say 'personal' reasons.As in personally I think its bollix.

Next year, I don't care where I am, but it will be somewhere warm, away from all the inanely happy people wearing stupid jumpers, where someone else is paid to sort out any crap so I can just eat, drink and do whatever the hell I want with no stress!

I am sorry for your bad experiences, but I would say in response that your last idea is a very good one. It sounds to me like you don't want to hate Christmas, but that circumstances - past and present - have made it singularly unpleasant. So change the circumstances (and I don't mean that in a patronising way.) I spent the Christmases of my youth in South Texas among the palm trees, and know that my parents loved the time away from the bustle of home.

A visit to the Caribbean, for example, where you could drink pina coladas on the beach to your hearts' content may be just the tonic to give you a different, more pleasant experience, of the season!

There are some fantastic riding opportunities on the island of St Kitts, for example.

Whatever you do, I hope your day/season shapes up better than it has begun. 🙂

I don't do christmas....any of it.Presents,food,decorations etc.Anybody asks and I just say 'personal' reasons.As in personally I think its bollix.

I agree on all counts these days, though I'd never pass up the opportunity to eat a good roast dinner and get pissed!

The best Christmas I've ever had was in Fuertaventura when our oldest was 9 months old. We couldn't face the family Christmas with the first grandchild and so buggerred off into the Atlantic. The weather wasn't great, but paella from a shack on a beach fir Christmas lunch was brilliant. Just wish we could do it every year.

Sounds brilliant, my facebook feed has a few photos of Spain & Lanzarote on it from friends one step ahead of me!

I bloody love it, but sorry to hear of your sadness and woes mboy!

Don't worry, good for you, I wish I love it, but I can't!

Drinks with mates last night, lazy stress free morning today.

That's the other thing... Even 5 years ago I could go out on Christmas Eve, loads of mates would be out and it was a great time to catch up with lots of people you haven't seen in ages. These days, it's the total opposite! Went out with the GF last night, town was dead, nobody out!

Had a lie in, but the stress started the moment I got out of bed...

Didn't think my mum would make this Christmas and she's had the all clear - went to see her at home yesterday.

Glad to hear your good news.

I'm not a fan but I wouldn't say I hate it, that would be me engaging with it. I'm just totally indifferent to it.

I've desperately tried to be indifferent towards it. Year after year after year... But it wouldn't let me, it just wouldn't let up! Just like Marmite, Christmas has insisted I either love it or hate it, and just like the yeast based product, I absolutely can't abide it.

I hate it because I don't like being told what to do or how to behave but I put on a big smiley face for the Mrs and the kids. It'll all be over in a few hours then it's just a big drinking holiday!

Suppose I can be grateful for small mercies, just got the GF to (attempt to) please... Think I'd have a meltdown if I was told what to do, how to behave and pretend I enjoyed it!

It's a load of bollocks IMO

I'm delighted that I'm in the minority and that most folks can transmute the festivities into being about family and friends and happiness. It just seems like a massive, pointless lie to me. One based on consumerism and bullshit religious tradition. I wish I could overlook this bit but I can't. 🙂 this is a fault with me rather than others I feel.

Days are getting longer now, which is very welcome.

Couldn't care less about the day or the shite that goes with it.
Nothing more than consumerism wrapped up in story.
Having kids means having to do something BUT mine are amazing young ladies who know the value of things and know full well what it's all about.
They don't like it either particularly.
They aren't keen on presents and for a number of years have just asked that money be put in their accounts.
Eldest has more than me!!
I'm fortunate that the ex is similar in her views on money, etc so doesn't spend ££'s on them.

I love the fact that the roads are empty, everywhere is quiet and I can get out without the usual queues and idiots.
Well other than more than the usual quota of middle laners

Raises hand slowly, lowers head and runs for cover.

Don't get me wrong, always have a nice Christmas Day - it's all the hype, build up and expectations (not mine!) that bugs me.

I think it's a necessary event to get us through the shortest days of the year.
It also gives people the opportunity to go and see their families if they live far away. And kids enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed it as a kid and I wouldn't want to take that away from the younger generations.
But in terms of materialism, it's awful. I avoid the xmas sales like the plague and spend the spare time reading, watching movies or seeing friends.

I avoid the xmas sales like the plague and spend the spare time reading, watching movies or seeing friends.

Add a bit of riding, and I can't imagine anything nicer.

Christmas consumerism is appalling and degrading to the human race.

I just see it as an enforced break from work, which long term is a good thing. Otherwise life just rolls on and on! Personally I need to get away from idiots at work and can just about suffer the Xmas BS as a mechanism for doing so.

....and won't somebody think of the turkeys?

I just see it as an enforced break from work, which long term is a good thing.

The vast majority of the worlds population, especially those that celebrate Christmas, are in the northern Hemisphere though...

Can't we move this enforced holiday to the end of June instead? I can guarantee I'd be a lot happier then, and appreciate the time off work a lot more than now...

myopic - Member
Raises hand slowly, lowers head and runs for cover.

Don't get me wrong, always have a nice Christmas Day - it's all the hype, build up and expectations (not mine!) that bugs me.

I've managed to upset someone who lives a couple of roads over by walking past on (on the other side of the road), and not responding to a random "merry Christmas" that I had no idea was apparently aimed at me, from some one I've never met before, 20m away, and who I'll never meet again. I live in west London - no one talks to each other. Oh well.

Pretty much opted out of it.
Still buy people presents but that's about it.
Seems that, despite what the adverts portray, it's actually a time of year that makes many miserable.
Family politics and tensions. Pressures to spend lots of money on stuff people don't really want or need...and to wear hilarious Xmas jumpers.

It's a festival of consumption. Not pretty or sustainable.

Kids deserve a good Christmas, that's about the nicest thing I can say.

Christmases were generally shit as a kid. My first Christmas memory was my Dad getting pissed, beating up my Mum and leaving us for his "other family". Two sets of kids, one with his wife (my mum) and one with his girlfriend - no wonder we were always skint.

Anyway, Xmas after that wasn't really much better, bitterness from both sides and me and my siblings fair game for pawns and/or cannon fodder.

Once I grew up and left home I'd had a guts full of it. My house/flat was never decorated, and Christmas consisted of dragging my hungover, coming down arse out of bed for 11am - go to Mum's for lunch, stay about 45 mins and head home to sit in the quiet - hated too much noise back then.

Nowadays with a family of my own I'm starting to enjoy it more, spoil the kids, eat too much, drink - the only time of year I do drink and be merry. Mrs J is working most of it though, her next day off is Tuesday.

As religious holidays go, it's not my favourite - that would be Easter!! 2 bank holidays like Xmas, but it's usually getting a bit Spring like and it's great for catching up with mates and getting some rides in.

Erm, No.

It's stressful having 11 around, and being in someone else's house, but on the whole it's pretty good fun.

I tend to do my own thing at Christmas, as I'm anti religious, so I've been out on the bike otter spotting on the canal with a mate, didn't spot any otters!

Did have some beers though, and went to a another friends to relive them of some snacks and more beer.Now at home, about to watch a film.. so a pretty nice day all in all.

I tend to feel obliged to reply with happy Christmas, it tends to be easier as people seem offended if I don't, or start lecturing them on how crazy they are!

Yes, consumerism gone mad. Not allowed to say no to buying yet more tat despite not having the money. Forced to lie to the kids about Santa and pretend that Christianity is the one true way. Brilliant recipe for a great day.

Seems that, despite what the adverts portray, it's actually a time of year that makes many miserable.
Family politics and tensions. Pressures to spend lots of money on stuff people don't really want or need...and to wear hilarious Xmas jumpers.

Sadly, that's often reflected on this forum. I'm expecting the annual, "Recommend me a good divorce lawyer" thread to start in the next few days.

Henrik Ibsen set many of his plays at christmas time. There is something about it which brings all the repressed thoughts and anxieties to the surface.

It just seems like a massive, pointless lie to me

This, and the fact that the lie is propagated from a very early age by the bribing of young children with presents. And then you find out Santa isn't real, and probably Jesus, but you still have Christmas anyway. WTF!?

Food, yes i like that bit. The commercialism annoys me but i try and blank it out.

I think it's a necessary event to get us through the shortest days of the year.

I was doing fine until i started worrying about buying presents and wondering if people would like them or not. Yeah Winter is setting in but for that reason i need to buy stuff to see ME through the winter - winter normal clothes (i'm still wearing a 2 year old jacket), winter riding clothes of which i had none, and i really need a portable bike washer as i have no yard and can't run in off the back street to refill my bucket incase someone steals my pride and joy. And what did i get? A chainsaw. For the wood burning stove of the house that i don't even own. And all the fallen trees are soaked now anyway. And i got rid of my car and don't fancy a back breaking walk with a garden sack full of wood over my shoulder from the local woods every time i want firewood. Like, Winter's a hard enough time anyway without getting caught up in "Consumerfest" (TM); your heating and lighting bills go up you eat more and you need to buy jumpers.

As Onzadog and Mattyfez say, it's best not to use the word "hate" though, as you might offend someone. I've avoided Facebook all day now. Be indifferent and maybe get away somewhere nice next time. Plan it nice and early and tell nobody and you'll have a lovely trick up your sleeve all year long! "**** you Jesus freaks i'm off to Thailand to ride some elephants!" "Merry ****ing Christmas from my Wi-Fi enabled beach hut!"

:thumbs:

£300 to unblock the drains outside the back of my house...

Three Hundred Fing Quid!

But apparently "it's only £250 tomorrow, or if you can wait til Tuesday it will go down to less than half that"...

I hate Christmas even more than ever now! Raw sewage coming up through the drains outside the back of the house, and people trying to take advantage just cos of a religious fing holiday that I despise in the first place, aside from the fact that I'm not religious anyway!

I fully expect to make at least regional news tomorrow, if not national, as I don't think I will be able to take responsibility for my actions very much longer! Can see it now, "A Drunk Man in Worcester has been arrested after threatening dozens of people trying to give him Christmas Cheer to force feed them the raw sewage overflowing into his back yard right now, having claimed that everyone was trying to rip him off just because it's Christmas!"...

I've been a happier bunny, put it that way!

Wow I love this traditional seasonal thread, it always reminds me how people love to dislike something.. anything... and if you want to find those people then stw is the place to be. Oh and merry Christmas everyone... I'm loving today's fun and am king of the Lego... At last...

I tried to do it myself earlier this year.

Ended up paying £150ish but £300 is still good vfm, trust me.

Ps. It's only a hollow festival of consumerism if you want it to be.

..and this 'traditional seasonal thread' wouldnt be complete without someone saying how wrong everyone is for not liking something 🙂

There's nothing unique about today, it can be done any day of the year. Especially lego.

Merry Christmas to you all!!! You miserable bastrds!!! 😀

I didn't say it was wrong in any way I just stated it was one of those things that people like to dislike. As for Lego I only do it if it's a birthday gift or Christmas so three times a year at most and I help with the initial builds although I suspect they won't need my help soon.. 😥 . We tend not to get it for any other reason, I myself got a pair of socks, call it rampant consumerism but I will wear them until they have holes in so I don't feel too bad.

Weight of the world mate! Take every day as a learning experiance.... Rough with the smooth. Trust me i know

I've had a great day. We don't go daft buying stuff, our kids are pretty undemanding. I treated myself to some vinyl and my other half got a new coat to a replace a well worn one. It doesn't have to all be about consumerism. Last night we got together with friends which we haven't done for a while due to work. Hopefully we'll manage more of that before we have to go back to work in the New Year. We've played Trivial Pursuit, done some colouring books and had a lovely meal with my family. But to be honest we don't need Christmas to enjoy a nice meal.

The blockage will most likely be in the nearest manhole which might be shared with a lot of other residents. (depending on your location obviously) If the issue is not on your property, the water board usually pay for the team to unblock it. (well they do where I live anyway)

We've had this a few times due to neighbours flushing unspeakable items down there. 😈

Wot CR said - if it's a shared sewer i.e.more than 1 house it's now the water company's responsibility. Successfully got a manhole replaced earlier this year and a blockage cleared the year before.
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/8654.htm

I like Christmas - it's a pagan festival put in place to celebrate the procession towards spring from the longest night. Bastardised by Christianity then again by Western consumerism. If I think about it Christmas makes me feel sick but I try not to think about the bullshit, think about the fact I am celebrating something "earthy" and just get on with it.

Family Politics - that's all I am going to say. I put a smile on knowing that it will be another 364 days before I am forced to do it again

From my sister 🙂
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It's All About.
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,The Baby Cheeses...

I'm in the hating it camp too. The only good thing about Christmas Day is that I don't get disturbed with work, the Blackberry stays silent.

I'm up at the folks' place just now and would much rather be at home under the duvet waiting for Boxing Day. Don't get me wrong, enjoy spending time with my folks, it's just that Christmas sucks.

🙂

I hate xmas. I have to pretend to tolerate it at the moment due to having a 7yo son, but once he's grown up I'm going to spend the whole of December in a cave in Nepal or something.

Slowboydickie has it right it's a festival to celebrate the midwinter solstice, the days are getting longer and warmer from now on. We've been doing it for millennia.
Yeah its been subverted by Christians and now capitalists and its easy to get sucked in to spending on all the crap
But I'm lucky, I like my family and even my in-laws I like making them happy and I love seeing my kids excited, I like cooking, eating lots of food and getting pissed, Ive got time off ! watched proper star wars with my son yesterday for the 1st time, we're watching empire tomorrow then Jedi, then I'm off to see the new one on nye
Had to do a click and collect from Argos on weds, nearest place to get a bb8 toy was a junction away down the motorway.... So obviously I turned it into a 50k trek on my hardtail, through some very boggy bridleways, but smugly enjoyed the looks I got at the retail park when I turned up plastered in mud...
I'm blessed with fully functioning sanitation systems so that aside, just make the most of it, a holiday is a brilliant idea, oh and.....

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I work in retail and we are preping for Christmas in July. Can't stand it. If it wasn't for the shops and the relentless advertising campaigns then it would pass most of us by. I always feel like a fraud as I don't attend church but I am expected to celebrate Christmas. Does not compute.

I always feel like a fraud as I don't attend church but I am expected to celebrate Christmas. Does not compute.

We've been celebrating the solstices since long before Christianity came along, today's orgy of consumerism, Santa Claus from coca cola, turkey from the native american tribes, xmas crackers, Xmas trees from the Victorians, bond films, Morecambe and wise,clubbing on NYE - its got nothing to do with the church.

I work in retail and we are preping for Christmas in July.

So do I... Own my own LBS... Happy to say that Christmas barely registers on the conscious of most of my customers (we're not selling tonnes of sub £100 kids bikes put it that way), so I can get away with barely even having to talk about Christmas at work much less having to prepare for it!

If I'm going to have an enforced week day off though, all I ask is that I can enjoy a bike ride and a stress free day... Neither of which were acheived in the slightest, though at least the GF came to the rescue on the grub front...

I'm another who's been in the dislike Christmas camp for decades, and since my Mum died a couple of years ago it's been worse as I have no other close relatives and am currently single, so was looking to spend the day on my own.

However I've had the most wonderful Christmas Day today! I work for a largish charity that happens to own a farm, so I asked the farm manager whether they would like any help on Christmas Day, and have spent the day feeding and mucking out pigs and horses, egg collecting, checking on the cows and lambs, and best of all driving the Massey Ferguson tractor. Came home covered in mud with a big smile on my face, and just about managed to cook some food before falling asleep in front of the TV 😀

If I'm still working at same charity next year, I will hopefully do the same.

I've had two sessions in the human soup hot tub. One at 9.15 am with the lovely mrs ws and a bottle of champagne. Managed to cook dinner for 11 who were all fed. Back in the human soup with adults only after I re chlorinated it from the kids earlier, me and the Bro in law who subsequently is one of my best mates did a 2hr stint talking bollox and I'm still up now finally solo listening to a few tunes. It's gone 2am and it's the first time I've posted in here today/yesterday so it must've been a great day.
Love you all x

Some times its all about what you make of it, unrealistic expectations and a strange obsession with tradition or making it like when you were a kid will never end that we'll.

This year was the first one without any kind of family around me. Went round a mates house had morning on the bike and a decent bbq with a bunch of beers over the course of the afternoon.

No excess consumerism, no adhering to crap traditions and no stress. I like the fact it was quiet and most people had a day off to catch up with friends and family.

Good for you mikewsmith but sadly not everyone has that much choice. The family and societal pressures are too much for me, hence the angst.

I don't get over excited by it, but it trends to be a family gathering, with my wife's family and a big meal. We take it in turns to host and cook, there's no real stress and everyone gets on well. So I guess that must be part of the miracle. 11 of us for dinner on Christmas eve and it all went smoothly.

Everyone had their own reasons for the live or hate of it, but trying not to kill it for others is probably the most important part.

It's ace.

I was unblocking drains on xmas eve but can't say it ruined it ruined anything.

However I've had the most wonderful Christmas Day today! I work for a largish charity that happens to own a farm, so I asked the farm manager whether they would like any help on Christmas Day, and have spent the day feeding and mucking out pigs and horses, egg collecting, checking on the cows and lambs, and best of all driving the Massey Ferguson tractor. Came home covered in mud with a big smile on my face, and just about managed to cook some food before falling asleep in front of the TV

Great stuff! Went to bed last night thinking about something similar for next year maybe... I'd happily work Christmas Day, but as I own a shop it would be pointless. So maybe volunteering is the way to go, and on a farm would definitely be fun!

Fortunately the drain saga has now ended... Severn Trent came round this morning, found a blockage down the line, cleared it and cleared our drain and all the neighbours out too, and cos it wasn't our fault, it was done for free! Can afford to keep that Garmin Watch I bought myself after all... Great start to Boxing Day morning, which I'm always pretty cheery on as it's as far away from the next Christmas as you can get!

Even going to brave the Boxing Day sales for a bit today, GF wants some boots and I need a DVD player, feeling ready and not going to let it break me!

Boxing Day sales, no wonder you hate Christmas.

Wife stressed about everything making her very hard to live with. Kids going mental, in laws and my folks to stay and eat and wind children up even more, then get told to go shopping on boxing day!?! The week is planned out with visits to people I don't like much no time for a ride of any sort. Bar blooming humbug.(hope she doesn't read this sounds bad when read back over) 🙄

Happy to report Christmas is DONE in our house. The kids new stuff is stowed away in its new home, I've just binned the last scrap of "Christmas Food" in the food recycling bin thing and whilst the tree is still up, it's bald again. I can't wait to get my arse to the gym or out on my bike - whichever is opportune first. I don't think I've managed to put on two stone in 48 hours like some daft people but it feels like my entire digestive track is jammed with red meat and cheese. I need some fresh air, to get my blood going again, but mostly a poo.

The last job is to sort out my Wife's gift, yes she liked it, yes it was perfect bar one tiny, weeny detail - it was EXACTLY the same thing I bought her last year. It's seems that due to our new daughter not sleeping last Xmas I have no memory of Xmas 2014 whatsoever so when I saw the pricy bracket online it rang a bell as the thing she had been dropping hints about and just forgot is bought it already - 12 month before!

Still going strong here just finishing a last drink of the day since 10am this morning and a few snacks. Then off to bed as tomorrow is Star Wars, then back for more fine food and drink.