When we were planning our move to Canada last year, one thing I was looking forward to was Christmas in North America. We lived for nearly thirty years abroad, most of it in Far East Asia or Southeast Asia where they have an anemic almost recognizable acknowledgment of Christmas. You know, a store might have put up Christmas decorations in 2019 and just never taken them down. A popular national singer or group might have recorded a Christmas carol or two in 1966 and that gets played on an endless maddening loop. In short, the folks in the country, whether it was South Korea, Cambodia, or China, had some ideas that were tangentially related to Christmas but were just off enough to make them bizarre and entertaining. Against this backdrop, I loved going into shops or exiting my tuk-tuk or greeting one of the staff at school with a hearty “Merry Christmas!” To the people in those countries it was exotic fun and such a thrill, but it never carried the meaning or nostalgia that it would in North America.
I looked forward to being in a country where the meanings of Christmas — and it exists on so many different levels from the deeply religious, to the carnal commercial to the culture spanning national holiday celebration — were understood and accepted. I looked forward to people greeting me with “Merry Christmas!”
To me Christmas season doesn’t start until Black Friday. You don’t put up your decorations, listening to Christmas carols, or mentioning Christmas until AFTER American Thanksgiving is over. While in Canada, they have Thanksgiving around the first of November, it just isn’t as big of a deal. And, the “celebrate” Black Friday with sales and whatnot.
Imagine my surprise with the ringing silence at all of the stores and other encounters. No one mentioned Christmas. The stores played Christmas carols, advertised Christmas sales, had holiday decorations, but no well wishing from one employed human being to a money-spending human being. Not even a “Happy Holidays.” The few times I tried, people were shocked, so I quickly quit. After all, not everyone celebrates Christmas, but we all have the day off unless we’re essential personnel and many of us acknowledge the day regardless of religious affiliation.
That’s why I love Festivus, it really is the festival for the rest of us. So, enjoy these Festivus cards and send them far and wide this holiday season regardless of what you celebrate.
Festivus Cards
The Psy of Life 