(Untitled)

[superpico]

The biggest thing to happen this week was pretty significant: my step-uncle John died on Friday night. He was vacationing in Florida at the house he owns there when he started to have some major health problems and has had several surgeries to correct various health problems he had in recent years. One of them affected his diaphragm in such a way

Comments

[painterofcars]

Don't ever forget that everyone has a different opinion about what Christmas should be.

And that nobody is ever wrong.

Merry Christmas ahead of time, buddy. :)

[superpico]

Thanks. :)

I brought this up mainly because at work and at my parents' house I have to endure the ads for Mike Huckabee talking about the "true meaning of Christmas." Hearing some people complain about people at retail stores saying "Happy Holidays" instead "Merry Christmas" just fuels my annoyance even more.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice, etc. :)

[cyan683]

"Happy Multi-Cultural Non-Denominational Festive Holiday Season."

The "true meaning" of Christmas, as far as I care, is to spend time with family and friends, since sadly we're starting to need an excuse for that more and more every year. Gift giving as an obligation bothers me. And gift cards are even worse. If you can't be bothered to think of/look for a good gift, why bother? It's not about giving people stuff, it's about giving them something you know they'll like/appreciate. (I'm not criticising you, just for reference. If people would be offended if you got them nothing, then that's a good solution.)

[superpico]

You hit the reason why I feel like gift-giving is more of an obligation for me: My immediate family tends to get offended if I don't get each one a gift, or if the gift I do get doesn't measure up to their standards. They may say so directly to me, or they may pull me aside and say it, or they may not say it to me but talk about it with someone else in private, much like I remember my parents talking about what my aunts and uncles would get and how good or bad (usually bad) the gifts were.

Like most Americans, I get gift cards because as I said in my entry, I don't know exactly what my family wants but I do know their interests and where they like to shop, and I don't want to risk getting something they don't want. I've gotten something for people in the past I didn't know if they wanted or not but seemed like a good idea, and the results have been mixed. I'd rather not deal with someone saying they don't like something.

[raspberrysorbet]

Obligatory gift-giving sucks. My boyfriend and I aren't getting each other anything this year. We love each other, that's all that matters.

[emilyami]

I'm sorry about your uncle man. You don't sound to have been hit too hard by it, so that's good

[notdavid]

Sorry to hear about your lose, Dave. And so close to Christmas :(