gross holiday consumerism vs. yer family
hcrink
8,729 Posts
a couple of the other posts reminded me of what I've spent a lot of tome thinking about... I hate holidays. We have all been conditioned to want things we don't need, and the holidays are the big payoff on the year's ad campaigns. It sickens me. but, if you are like me, you have a family that you can't get rid of/love that buys into this shit 110 percent. How do yawl deal with it? I drink. discuss...
Comments
construction paper fans stand up.
Having no heart makes the holidays easy, enjoyable even.
wow, that is awesome! my family would be pissed!
hahaha!!!
I used to take their presents and give none in return (I do give my niece and nephew something every year though). They were cool with it, but now my girlfriend feels all bad and always wants to give gifts. I told her if they are just giving us gifts to get them in return eventually they will stop. She doesn't like my argument.
so now
when i first did it my parents were actually really into it, so i do it for them, the grandparents and the aunties that still send me gifts, ive had no complaints. ill still buy my brother some porn and my girl still makes me buy her some shit, but the family members get the the charity treatment.
yeah, I have young sisters. I enjoy giving kid's presents. You'd have to be cruel not to. It's funny, my situation is the opposite - my girlfriend wants to stop the presents, but I would feel too guilty. But I also feel bad keeping up the status quo
i guess that that's a secret santa, isn't it. it's cool because you get to really put thought into that person, everyone gets something, and we all save crazy loot on presents and are not quite as consumerist.
it's been working for us.
yeah we do this at my girls house, as she has 3 brothers, and they all have girlfriends and we are all close....and broke. i definately agree that its cool because you do get to put thought into what you buy, i didnt really realize it until you said that but everyone really is sneaky about it and trying to find out shit that the other person would totally dig.
This idea has been proposed by some of the radicals in my family. vetoed.
My dad married into a large italian family and doesn't think everyone should buy everyone gifts so he runs the "name out of a hat thing", and tells me who I got. Then, I show up at christmas with one gift and everyone got something for me (and everyone else) and I feel like a jerk.
I understand his intentions are good, but no one in that family is having this "don't get your grandma a gift" shit.
I too used to drink to deal with it. During college, I'd get particularly blinkered at my mom's annual Dec. 23 neighborhood party, prompting the neighbors to tell my mom, "Your son is so talkative!" Ha.
Nowadays, I just grit my teeth and get through it, however it may go down. One thing I've tried to do with as many people as possible is broker either a no presents deal (don't buy one for me, I won't buy one for you, we'll both be less stressed out and broke) or don't spend more than $10 on a present deal. That definitely helps.
I'm the youngest of five kids and we grew up poor, so we always drew names (kids only) at Thanksgiving. We were strictly forbidden from ever getting mom and dad anything because money was tight enough as it was. It was cool to only have to buy one gift, and keeping the secret was half the fun.
But because there was so little money, we grew up with highly managed expectations. Meaning, we would ask for certain gifts, but it always a huge surprise if we actually got it.
The end result is that I really, really hate the gift-giving thing as an adult. I feel guilty about getting gifts (which are usually things I don't want and almost always something I don't need) and I feel guilty about not getting enough stuff for others. I don't exchange gifts with my family because I always spend Christmas at my in-laws, but I have to buy stuff for them. Now that I'm married and we have a joint account, I suppose I can just sign my name alongside my wife's and be done with it, but still.
I suppose I should just shut up and drink like Crink.
I sign my name on shit my sister in law has gotten people! Second Cousins too!
CO-SIGN! the cheapest way to spread holiday cheer.
That and regifting.
yeah, it's hard unless everyone is 100% on board. my family is pretty easy-going, and there are only six of us including my wife, so it's fairly easy for us.
exactly.
But wait'll you see what I got you this year, Crinky!
Haha! No, no...after Thanksgiving dinner, we would draw names to see who we'd buy CHRISTMAS gifts for. That way, you had a full month.
It's really not about the gifts at all, but the act of getting and opening them that's the big deal.
I'd say a good 75% of gifts don't last past the 2 week point. Actually only 2 at most get heavy play.
This year, especially being broke, I'm trying to only get things they want and probably just loading them down with cheap toys, since they don't care anyway.
Honestly, my kids are just as excited about getting generic Power Rangers at the dollar store as they are buying the real $7 ones.
For about ten years now my wife and I and our dog and cat all go to the coast for 3-4 nights including the 25th. Just watch storms roll in, walk the dog in the rain, pick up agates, read. We get a room with a kitchen and make chili, twice baked potatoes, black bean soup, coco and stuff like that so we never have to go out to eat. That way we avoid alot of the insanity her family and our friends are into.
For 15 years I have eaten dinner every other week with 6 other familys, 14 adults and 9 kids from 9 - 19. We also have thanksgiving together. The birthdays never stop. The kids are use to getting cheap gifts from us, and they tend to be appreciative of a cool key chain, or wind up balsa wood plane. At xmas it's mostly one cheap gift for each family, burn them a cd, or some plant cuttings or jam.
My nieces mostly get books. Their parents want us to by them a bike, or a new coat, or an ipod. But we just get them a book. Our parents are happy with a card and thrilled if we have found something they really want or need.
Most of our friends kids get buried in gifts year round, and even more so on xmas.
For me, and I think for most Jews, we celebrate a much more quite and less consumer oriented holiday. We tend to be amused by the frenzy mainstream America wallows in.
Dan
its an outlet center with every brand name store imaginable
its packed year round, but every holiday season they think of some super way to make it ridiculously stupid for consumers
first off, the traffic it creates is horrible....on a weekend where people travel to see family, it is damn near impossible to leave or come into our town because of the massive traffic backups caused by this mostrosity of a mall
this is an outdoor shopping mall....this year it is opening at MIDNIGHT
fucking MIDNIGHT
so after you eat yer turkey and pies and drink your wine, hop in your car and go shop that night
who the fuck shops at 2 am
my store opens at 2 am
2 am?
its fuking stupid....
if u belive in this holiday or not, is it really necessary to shop on the day after when you could do that some other time?
fucking ridiculous
Haven't you ever gone to Wal-Mart or to the grocery store at 2am? People are out. Sorta.
damn, that place is pretty big, I've actually been there once. I forgot where I parked and it took me 15 mins to find my car. OOF