Christmas used to be my favorite time of the year. It stopped being so when American society stopped having Christmas parties; when grade schools stopped having Christmas Pageants and stores stopped selling Christmas decorations and other things I had associated with this time of the year.
Now I can't even look at a container of egg-nog, whose label has the traditional red and green coloring and borders of ribbon, holly berries and poinsettias, without being reminded of this sad fact. I opened the refrigerator one morning to get my milk for my morning coffee and stared at this label whose contents were described, in the traditional Christmas script, as "Holiday Egg-Nog."
OK, why does it have to be described as "Holiday" egg-nog? Why not just plain egg-nog? At what other time of year do I find egg-nog in my refrigerator? Christmas, of course. Well, we backwards and unenlightened obviously can't be trusted to have the colors, graphics and script associated with Christmas and NOT think of this time of year as Christmas, can we? So the good culture-neutral nut-jobs have seen to it that such dreadful thoughts never enter our empty heads.
Later that same day, I get an e-mail message from one of our esteemed conservative Republican elected officials inviting me and the fam to, yes, a "Holiday Party" fundraiser. The invitation was festooned with garland, holly and berries and poinsettias, and was written in the traditional Christmas script.
It's almost enough to make one say "Bah! Humbug."
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1 comment:
Vivan --
Christmas IS a "Holiday." I haven't, but I bet if you look up the origins of egg-nog, it will have nothing to do with Christmas and probably has druid roots -- much like the "Christmas Tree" YOUR meaning of Christmas has its roots in the christian church (you know, that place where healthy young people cough?). That's where you want to look for the true meaning of Christmas. Not in your fridge. Not in a typeface. NOt at a fundraiser. And certainly NOT at the mall.
p
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