I remember when boxing day used to be a big deal.

I think Boxing Day was a big deal when I was a kid. I vaguely remember that it was illegal for stores to open on boxing day, but many did anyway and faced government fines for breaking the law.

How silly.

I also remember huge crowds and line ups - similar to "Black Friday" in the States where Walmart shoppers trample each other trying to buy stereos.

Except this was Canada so it was much more polite. No trampling. Even in high school I remember walking around the malls on boxing day, shoulder to shoulder with all the people trying to save 30% on a $20 compact disc.

First, are the prices that good on Boxing Day? I don't know. I imagine they're pretty good, but not spectacular. Stores still need to make money. They don't give stuff away. So my guess is that in most cases you would be paying more than wholesale.

Second, is it worth the hassle? Think of the crowds and lineups and general inconvenience. Is it worth it to put up with this to save a few dollars? Maybe. Not for me though. Not for a lot of people. In fact, I'd pay 30% more if I could guaranteed that the malls would be empty, I'd have great service and the parking lot would be wide open.

Third, I bet half the stuff they advertise is gone. You'd show up the store and they'd do a classic bait and switch. Unless you were one of the idiots who lined up outside at 3am - then you may have been lucky enough to buy that object that will change your life forever and make you happy.

Nowadays boxing day isn't a big deal anymore. Places like Costco have low, warehouse prices all the time. Regular stores have boxing week sales. No rush. You can buy most things online for pretty cheap, and if you really want to cheap out you can go to Craigslist.

Isn't a boxing day blow out sale such a strange thing? I mean, here we are, complaining for the last month about the commercialization of Christmas and how poor we are and how it's such a hassle to buy gifts, then THE DAY AFTER Christmas we rush out to the malls to trample on people so we can buy more shit.

Now I'm angry.

Christmas is awesome when you're a kid.

When you're an adult Christmas is a bit of a pain. There's a lot to do. Tons of obligations.

When you're a kid Christmas is the greatest thing in the world.

I remember being so excited that I couldn't sleep on Christmas eve. It was all about the toys. I wanted as much as possible. A huge, giant pile of toys.

This is actually a pretty good metaphor for our culture today. When we're sad we think it's because we're "empty". Therefore the quick and easy solution is to buy as many things as possible.

Things will fill us up and make us more happy. By the way, this isn't just my opinion. I got the idea from a great psychology paper I read called Why the Self Is Empty: toward a Historically Situated Psychology by Philip Cushman (1990) "American Psychologist".

He writes, "...the current self is constructed as empty, and as a result the state controls its population not by restricting the impulses of its citizens, as in Victorian times, but by creating and manipulating their wish to be soothed, organized, and made cohesive by momentarily filling them up."

He says that America, after World War II, became a culture obsessed with self-improvement. "As the individual's growth, enjoyment, and fulfillment became the single most valued aspect of life."

Merry Christmas!

Jesus wasn't born on Christmas.

It's pretty common knowlege that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. The Bible never says what time of year he was born, and old Christian writings don't mention celebrations around his birth.

The two theories are:

1) December 25th was chosen by church leaders because that's when traditional pagan feasts and celebrations took place, and they adapted many pagan customs.

2) December 25th was chosen by church leaders because of links between passover (his death) and his conception.

Either way, it doesn't matter much in our society. Santa is much more popular than Jesus. Parents actively tell their kids that Santa rides around on a sleigh and gives them presents. And that's what kids care about.

My Christmas music awards.

I think most Christmas music is cheesy. Occasionally you hear a good song. Here's my list of Christmas music awards:

Best Christmas Song: We Three Kings.
This song has 2 great melodies. I like the beginning "we three kings" melody and the chorus "oh star of wonder" melody.

Most Depressing Verse: We Three Kings.
Another award for this great tune. Most depressing verse. Here are the words: "Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume/Breathes of life of gathering gloom/Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying/Sealed in the stone-cold tomb". Awesome.

Most melodramatic Christmas Song: Happy Christmas by John Lennon
"So this is Christmas, what have you done?". It's usually its accompanied by a television commercial of starving African children.

Coolest Christmas Song: Drummer Boy.
It's cool because of the drums. Great rhythm.

Best Rock Christmas Song: Jingle bell Rock
The original Jingle bell Rock. Can't remember who sang it. I love the guitar beginning. The rest of the song is average. But that little riff at the beginning is sweet.

Best Modern Rock Christmas Song: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Barenaked Ladies
They did well covering this song. It's pretty fast-paced and catchy.

People pretend that they don't like Christmas.

I've noticed that people openly groan about Christmas. "Oh no it's already here!" they'll say. Or "I haven't started my shopping," or "[groan] I have to put up my decorations soon".

People complain about how the stores are already decorating, and the stores put out advertisements saying how "busy" you are this holiday season and how stressful it is, so you should just buy their product.

Television commercials show stressed out people, awkward inlaws, terrible gifts. People complain about the corny Christmas music.

If this is all true, than why do we even celebrate Christmas?

The answer is that people actually like Christmas. It's cool to pretend that we don't, but we do. No one likes to admit this.

Even my co-worker was complaining about Christmas. Then I noticed through various comments that she liked Christmas. I confronted her. "You actually LOVE Christmas, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do..." she admitted.

Watch for these Christmas cliche stories. (part 2)

Hmmm looks like there are more Christmas cliche stories than I thought. Here are 5 more:

6) Christmas Retail Slump People aren't spending as much and the stores are losing money. We're in retail slump and sales are "slower than expected". Interview with sad-looking shop owner.

7) Silly Story About Santa Every year Santa does something silly. He does a dance poll strip tease or goes water skiing or steals from kids or something dumb. Picture included.

8) Dangerous Christmas Toys That Kill Children Every year China produces some awesome toys that unfortunately hurt kids. We'll hear about it. We'll hear about the recalls and the angry parents.

9) Food Bank Donations are Down No one is donating to the food banks this year! We need help from the public. Bring in your canned goods. Also: Homelessness is way up this winter. All the shelters are filled and people are forced to sleep in the cold street.

10) Dumb Toy Is Latest Craze This silly toy is the latest craze among the kids. You can buy one on ebay for a million dollars. Here's a clip of shoppers in a store fighting to buy this latest toy. Ho hum. Heard it before.

Watch for these Christmas cliche stories. (part 1)

Every Christmas season I've noticed the same stories in the media. See how many of these you come across this year.

1) The Heartless Thief Steals From Local Charity, Food Bank or Not For Profit.
This is the obligatory story of thieves stealing toys for kids or something. You hear about it every year.

2) Holiday Advice.
I'm sick of these pathetic stories. How to Survive Your Work Party. How to Keep off the Weight This Christmas. How to blah blah blah. They're all the same re-cycled, filler news stories from years past.

3) Latest Website for Tracking Santa
Guess what? There's a website that tracks Santa and you can watch his progress!! Give me a break. There are a ton of these websites and they're all hokey and fake. Every year I hear about a new way to track Santa.

4) Outrageous Story about Banning the Word "Christmas".
Every year we have the story raging about how you're not allowed to say Christmas anymore. Or something similar. This is so old. I was mad about this last year, the year before and the year before that. I don't want to hear about it again.

5) Lots of Snow / No Snow Expected
Because of this current El Nino-kind-of weather system, we're going to have a very very snowy Christmas. Or, in fact, we're going to have a dry, snowless Christmas.

Christmas lights are up.

On November 13 I first noticed Christmas lights in our neighbourhood. November 13! It's getting later and later every year. Usually the lights go up early November. The day after Halloween.

What's going on? Why are people becoming more humbug? Why don't people want to decorate?

I think it comes down to 2 reasons. 1) Laziness. People no longer want to put an effort into celebrating the holiday season. This is a shame. 2) Less holiday spirit. In the old days, people lit their houses up after Thanksgiving. And the lights were huge, extravagant, unbelievable.

Christmas is just not the big deal it used to be. The last few years, holiday shopping spending has been flat. I haven't even heard any Christmas carols on the radio. Usually this time of year one of the stations goes 24/7 Christmas. Nothing yet.

People it's mid November. Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye! We need to start celebrating and partying and buying gifts. We need to start standing in line and getting alcohol and calling restaurants to book our holiday party.

Things are changing. Christmas is fading away, and I don't like it one bit.