Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Melting My Christmas Bah-Humbug

Everybody who knows me realizes I'm not a big fan of Christmas. As I've said before, Christmas is a great idea that was ruined by commerce, along with enough sticky-sweet schmaltz to induce a diabetic coma.

Don't worry, I won't be negative this entire post, but I get the bad out of the way before we get to the good. Think of it as surviving until Boxing Day. (December 26. Praise God!)
Members of the British Royal Navy ham it up
for Christmas aboard the HMS Ocean



Consumer Reports recently released a survey describing the top 11 annoyances people said they have with the holiday. 

Among them are crowds, bad holiday music, Christmas shopping and being forced to be nice. I'm usually nice, but why do I have to be in a certain mood because somebody says so?  Especially when it's some obnoxious person in a holiday advertisement telling me I have to be happy to buy their worthless, overpriced product with money I don't have and if I don't buy said product with a smile on my face I'm a worse person than most serial killers out there.

And you wonder why I say "Bah-humbug."

The only one of the eleven in the Consumer Reports list  I don't experience is "disappointment with gifts." That's only because if somebody was nice enough to try to get me something, at least there were thinking of me. Who cares if the gift was iffy?

 In any event, it's nice to see sometimes that some people out there in Christmasland get it.  A few people are appropriately kind and goofy and fun and giving during the holiday season. Here are at least two examples.

There's a guy in Reading, Pennsylvania, who wishes to remain anonymous, who goes out into the streets of the town and passes out $100 bills to people who look like they could use  the help, according to The Reading Eagle, the local newspaper.

The guy is copying from another philanthropist who does similar stuff out in Kansas City, but this kind of copying is just the ticket.

Here's a vid out of Reading that explains it all. Very nice to watch:



Next, for the more fun, goofy aspect of the season we go to members of the British Royal Navy aboard the HMS Ocean. They've been away from home for 217 days and are getting a little punchy. The good news is their due home this Friday. The better news is while out there, they lip-dubbed soliders, in hilarious fashion, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You."

Turns out it's Mariah Carey approved. Said she in a Tweet after she saw it: "This is the best thing I've ever seen, you guys just made my day! Happy, Happy Christmas xoxo to the troops"

I have to agree with Mariah that this did put me back in the Christmas spirit. As in being happy because I am, not  because I've been ordered to. It will give you some cheer, too. Watch:

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