I was running three departments for a business a while back, and one of the managers I was responsible for had a real attitude problem. I didn’t like her, she didn’t like me, and we just kept hitting it often. The thing is, she was an OK employee most of the time. So I let do her thing, and I did mine.
Around mid-December, we ended up in a private meeting with the GM in an effort to work out our issues. It quickly degenerated into a fight, and I threw her off the third floor… OK, ok, just kidding, we ended up verbally fighting, and the GM just sat there listening to us for about 15 seconds until he stood up and said “It’s Christmas for Christ Sakes!” And he walked away. (For the record, he was a great guy.)
I’ve read similar comments here on the boards about how Christmas time is a time of Peace. Same goes for the New Year, although I suppose Christmas is more significant for religious folks.
I find it all a bit strange, and sad. Just a thought. Why should I be nicer to others at this time of year? Is it like some kind of truce? Truce with ourselves, with the world? Weird in some ways… As if there was a time to be nice, and a time not to be nice.
Isn’t it strange that for some reason we seem to need something like Christmas to remind us that being nice is the right thing to do? I’m no saint, BTW. I can be an ass sometimes, it happens. My question is why does it seem worse around this time of year?
I’m sure I’ll get a bit of flack for this, but I think it reflects poorly on how we live our lives…
That’s all. Now be nice to me. It’s Christmas for fuck sakes!
[quote=“bobepine”]Isn’t it strange that for some reason we seem to need something like Christmas to remind us that being nice is the right thing to do? …
I’m sure I’ll get a bit of flack for this, but I think it reflects poorly on how we live our lives…
That’s all. Now be nice to me. It’s Christmas for fuck sakes! [/quote]Merry Christmas Bobepine!
I see it another way. I think it’s great to have festivals which celebrate peace and harmony. And of course this doesn’t mean that we should be nasty the rest of the time. There’s something very good and human about having these kinds of festivals.
The modern tendency is to question “empty” ritual and ceremony. Perhaps this started with the Puritans. But I think this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Rituals, ceremonies, and festivals can and do have deeper meanings.
This next comment is in no way directed at you personally, but I think it reflects poorly on how we live our lives that we feel we always have to question everything good, to look for hidden motives, and even to use our cynicism as a defence. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. But I think it’s a tendency that is better restrained. I’m reluctant to restart the old “you think too much” debate (on which there are at least two threads already), but I feel that there really are times when we “think too much” for our own good.
I think it’s OK to stop to think about why we are so nice to each other around the holidays.
Thinking about it is one thing, but people actually have strong emotions around this time of year. The lonely is lonelier, and the happy is happier. Weird. Must be a cultureal thing…
I never got the “you think too much” saying here. Perhaps because I think too much. Seriously.
But the holidays have impacts on people in different ways. This holiday is normal and boring and full of bs gifts for the family, while two streets down a family or someone who once had a normal and boring holiday is now reflecting on the importance of it all because s/he has lost it.
Christmas stop being Christmas for me in 1987. The last tree I put up was ‘bah-humbugged’ by my family and I made that mean something. :loco: Then after losing my mother, the holidays became harder because her bday is Dec 5 th. So, from Dec to Feb 27 (my bday) i would be in a serious funk.
Now, I think this holiday has been the best I’ve had in a long time. Since I don’t subscribe to the group thought of 'spreading the holiday cheer" It can be done at anytime anyplace.
Bobepine, what is it about that holiday and that woman that made you reflect on THAT moment? Perhaps, you want to absolve yourself of some old negative energy that you connect with the holiday.
[quote=“Namahottie”]I never got the “you think too much” saying here. Perhaps because I think too much. Seriously…
Bobepine, what is it about that holiday and that woman that made you reflect on THAT moment? Perhaps, you want to absolve yourself of some old negative energy that you connect with the holiday.
Or am I 'thinking too much" [/quote] Well, don’t think too much about what I said! Just me on my hobbyhorse. I guess if there’s one thing worse than thinking too much, it’s thinking too much about thinking too much…
[quote=“bobepine”]Thinking about it is one thing, but people actually have strong emotions around this time of year. The lonely is lonelier, and the happy is happier. Weird. Must be a cultureal thing…
EDIT: A good Christmas to you too, Joesax. [/quote]Thanks Bobepine, and I do know what you mean about emotions being more intense around this time. Lots of people feel like that. Partly it’s the kind of cultural expectations thing, I agree. Hollywood has something to answer for. But also it’s the general thinking about family, etc.
[quote=“Namahottie”]
Bobepine, what is it about that holiday and that woman that made you reflect on THAT moment? [/quote]I guess it’s because of the intensity with wich the GM said the phrase “It’s Christmas for fuck sakes!” It’s the most blunt example of “we have to be nice, it’s Christmas” kind of cultural conditioning I have experienced. Other similar gestures, but not as relevant to me, are common during the holidays.
How about… We have to be nice, it’s only Monday for fuck sakes!
[quote=“Buttercup”]Just found out my sister got burgled again on Christmas day. Ho ho ho. The UK’s a wonderful place. Marvellous people.[/quote]The Grinch did it…
I think Christmas is a time of extreme stress and anxiety unless you are a wee small kiddoo.
I have never liked it - I much prefer the summer holidays - warm, sunshine and outdoor activities.
Stress, unachievable expectations of “Hallmark Holidays” and people on edge is no fun in my book.
And on top of this there’s the usual “Taiwan” crap to contend with…arrggghhh!
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]I think Christmas is a time of extreme stress and anxiety unless you are a wee small kiddoo.
I have never liked it - I much prefer the summer holidays - warm, sunshine and outdoor activities.
Stress, unachievable expectations of “Hallmark Holidays” and people on edge is no fun in my book.
And on top of this there’s the usual “Taiwan” crap to contend with…arrggghhh![/quote]When I phoned my parents yesterday I was complaining about the usual Taiwan crap of cycling in a T-shirt on a sunny Christmas Eve afternoon. Strangely, they weren’t very sympathetic.
Sorry, TC, I do know what you mean. Just being a smart alec. Last Christmas wasn’t that great for me. But this one was rather good. Apart from the cycling, had a nice Christmas dinner with a bunch of friends. Got some nice presents from my family too, including motorbike magazines and Charley Boorman’s Dakar DVD – the way to a man’s heart!
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]I think Christmas is a time of extreme stress and anxiety unless you are a wee small kiddoo.
I have never liked it - I much prefer the summer holidays - warm, sunshine and outdoor activities.
Stress, unachievable expectations of “Hallmark Holidays” and people on edge is no fun in my book.
And on top of this there’s the usual “Taiwan” crap to contend with…arrggghhh![/quote]
Agreed.
Funk500: That’s a real bummer, it sucks when your pet(s) go.
Well, my uncle died (I got to tell his oldest daughter), my sister got burgled and is hiding out at my mother’s house and I accidentally put my 32 year old teddy bear in the washing machine.
Expect a manic/obnoxious Buttercup for the next few days.
Edit I had a lovely time meeting up with all my Taipei friends and had a log 'phone call with my wonderful, wonderful sister, so don’t mean to say it was completely shite.
A good Christmas to you too, Joesax. 
Seriously.
It can be done at anytime anyplace.
Angry sex 
Seriously…
[/quote] 
