Anybody else noticed on their travels, the total lack of decorated houses this year ? Is it the cost of the electricity perhaps? Doesn't seem like a lot until you start thinking that 1000 little light bulbs at 1 watt apiece, is one unit of electricity every hour ...
Or is it just a general lack of good cheer this year due to the "terrible financial conditions" that the government keep trying to convince us are with us ?
Or is it something completely different, maybe ? I can think of at least 6 houses in my immediate area, that are normally ablaze by now with icicle lights, leaping reindeer, giant inflatable santas and so on. Every square foot of the house covered. This year ? Nothing. Even in the village centre, there's only one feeble attempt by one business, to liven up his shop window.
Or is it just round here that everyone's turned into a miserable sod ?
It's a bit early in the month I think. Most people will be hanging on a bit longer before spending on the cost of the decorations this year. We are waiting until the 12th of this month, that's when family and friends will start to appear. We have new toddlers in the group now, so the older kids can show them how to put the Christmas cheer into the decorating. Close the door and we won't hear them for hours. :-)
Just put a smile on your face when you walk down the street. It seems to have a catchy side that makes everyone else want to smile back at you. For anyone who catches a longer glance in your direction, just wish them a Merry Christmas. If that don't make them smile back, watch your wallet. Ho Ho Ho !!!
It would appear that there is a bit of a problem with the odd job losses at the moment - try blaming the bankers and their greed in selling sub-prime mortgages or not spreading the money around that we, the tax payers, have made available to them.
Might give you a hint then at the problem - or it could be the health and safety brigade telling people that they must obtain permission to install the lights on their property and then get each-and-every item PAT tested and certified before they can switch them on (yes that has happened very recently).
Now if you think that, why don't you dip into your pocket and install and run your own decorations - or are you simply a tight-fisted 'sod' who enjoys these 'shows' at the expense of others?
Don't you just hate those that grumble and bitch when they can't get what they want - a bit like the ubiquitous Arthur Daley from Minder - a tight fisted bastard if ever there was one (just like the OP here).
Christmas will be like any other day in this house - dead miserable !! You can spend pounds if you're not careful - not one extra penny is leaving my pocket I can assure you of that !!
Upstairs with my mug of cocoa and my copy of Bleak House.
Nah, not "grumpy" Big Wallop, I just get pissed off when idiots start moaning about what other people are *not* doing for the 'idiots' benefit/amusement.
As I said to Arfa there, if he misses the lights that much, then let him stick his hand into his pockets, go and buy a few sets of outdoor lights and string 'em around his 'pad' and let the neighbours enjoy his handiwork.
As for me, it back to the old outside lights that go up around the middle of the month, ditto with the 'real' Nordman or Noble fir Xmas tree inside the house (along with the decorations and more lights) - and yes, I enoy doing it.
(But I gave up believing in Father Christmas many years ago)
You don't believe in Saint Nicholas? What? You really don't believe in Santa Claus? Cheezo!!!! You really have lost the spirit of the season of good will to all men. And if you'd ever met Good Will, you'll know who I'm talking about. :-)
It's not the lights and decorations that make Christmas time good. It's the attitude you take toward others. You can lighten a room more with a smile, than you can with a string of little lights.
Your chatting with a guy (and a family) who do not believe in any kind of Christianity or Gods or any deity of any kind, shape or form. Yet we look upon this time of year, as getting through one year unscathed and starting fresh in another year unscathed. It is something to rejoice about, don't you think? A whole new year approaching, to do what the *+%$ you want with it. You just have to go out there and grab it with both hands and kiss it hard on the lips. Or is that just me? Tell the truth. I don't care. :-)
All I know is, this time of year is great to be in. The cheerful music in all the shops. The happy smiling faces of the kids as they empty your pockets of money. The junkies jacking up in the streets and falling over high as a kite and not giving a fig or an almond. The beggars who challenge you for your loose change that your own kids have already made off with. The bank card that is rejected in all the shops you visit. The plane crashes. The starving in other countries. The homeless and dispossessed. The uncharitable feeling that flows through everyone.
F it. You're right. I'm, spending the rest of the year in bed. There is nothing left to live for. Goodbye cruel world. :-) LOL Yeahy Right.
We don't really do anything special. We don't send cards and now nearly don't get any back (upon request, well except the local Curry house and some old dear who doesn't realise the previous occupiers left nearly 30 years ago!). We put the money we might of spent in the local Hospice instead. Celebrating another year? I try to celebrate another day (so probably why we don't do birthdays or wedding anniversaries either, that's another load of pressure off). ;-)
Excuse for a drink up, don't need one. Excuse to eat more than we should, don't need one for that either. Getting / giving things to friends / family or helping 'strangers', we try all year round.
Don't send a bit of pre printed meaningless / expensive cardboard to a seldom seen relative, ring them and have a chat, or better pop round (if you actually like each other. Do folk ever consider there might be a reason who you haven't seen someone since last Christmas?) :-)
LOL.. so true ... ;-)
The problem is, although it should be a time of good will and happiness it's often a time of high stress and pressure. Those that have, can carry on pouring it down the drain and those that don't often go to desperate lengths to *buy* what they believe (or have been led to believe) is a good Christmas for their kids and family.
It's actually quite difficult to break the loop though. We have no decorations, no tree, no Xmas fare, no presents, why, because most of it is BS and none of us can be bothered. We are fortunate enough to be in good health and have the strength of our own convictions. We can deal with being labeled as 'miserable' or 'weird' because we know we are the stronger people for doing what we believe is right for us and what probably could be right for many more if 1) they could be brave enough to do it and 2) thought about what they are doing for just one second. If it all works for you, carry on, enjoy.
If our daughter or my Mum or a mate needs or wants something, we do our best to get it for them when it's the best time for them. eg, We don't get our kids a bike for the 25th of December when it's most useable in the summer.
Think about it. You go from swapping gifts, to swapping vouchers, to swapping cash, to buying yourselves want 'to the same value' and them doing the same ... wtf? What might be *really* nice is to actually help them do something when they need help?
Join in the commercial spirit of Christmas you mean .. not here! ;-)
Here in Melbourne, Ivanhoe Boulevard is famous for its decorated houses. From the Council website:
"The Boulevard Christmas Lights
Since the early 1950s the residents of The Boulevard and surrounding streets have been hanging lights, building props and decorating their gardens and windows in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The resulting colourful and exiting display brings smiles to tens of thousands of people each year. As well as the great lights displays each night there will be entertainment along the way from a variety of choirs and musical groups and refreshments available.
The 2008 Boulevard Christmas Lights will commence on Friday 12 - Wednesday 24 December and will run nightly from 8.30 - 11.30pm. The offical launch of the lights will happen as part of the Carols by Candlelight on the Boulevard event held at Ivanhoe Park, off the Boulevard starting at 6.30pm on Saturday, 13 December.
Please note the following:
TRAFFIC DETAILS FOR BOULEVARD LIGHTS 12 - 24 DECEMBER No parking/stopping is allowed along The Boulevard between Lower Heidelberg Rd and Burke Rd North All cars must enter via Lower Heidelberg Rd and exit via Burke Rd North One way traffic only in an easterly direction Expect long delays
FREE SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE
Approx every 15 minutes from 8.30 - 11pm nightly (from 5:30pm on Sat 13 Dec). ..."
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this is just a suburban street!
I never heard of anything on this scale in the UK. Definitely not the road to move to if you don't do Christmas!
I admire your strength to do what you all want to do. It's a thing about people I always look for. Personal presence in the world. What is most commonly known as "The salt of the earth" types.
As for commercialism at Christmas. Bah Humbug to that. What I do enjoy is to see people give a smile and a nod to each other. OK, it may only be more prevalent nearing the festive season, but as long as people acknowledge each other on the passing. That's what I think this season was created for.
Giving is an all year round thing, so this part of Giving is better than receiving stuff, is all bull kaka to me. But just for this last part of the year. The final month of an aging year. Let's all smile and nod to our neighbours and the people we recognise from the neighbourhood. Ask if they are looking forward to the next year beginning. If you get all their woes, so be it. At least you've acknowledged they are there, and it comes back to you when you need an ear to listen to you.
If I may give a small example of what I mean. We live in an old tenement with six flats over three storeys. All our neighbours are young lively, go to the gym type folks. High stress jobs and very little time on their hands. Half our age. During the rest of the year, we pass in the common stair and ask how each other is doing, while we run out the door to the next meeting. No more than seconds of chat while we pass in the stair.
The other night we have a knock at our door. One of the neighbours is standing on the door step with a set of keys in their hand. He asks if we could look after their flat for a week while they are away, and if we could keep their spare set of keys incase they ever lock themselves out. Me in a joke says Oh Yeah, come to the golden oldies because they don't have a hectic life anymore. No, says the neighbour. It's because you are the only ones in the block who talk to us. There are no new neighbours in the stair. We've all lived here for years together.
Can you believe that? We are the only ones in the tenement who talk to our neighbours. Even if it is just a passing "hello, how are you today?" relationship. It brings people together in a community spirit.
That's what we celebrate at the end of the year. We have fought and won, and survived, being shunned by our neighbours. We can hear them cough, sneeze and fart from through the wall, but we can't talk to them in the street. We couldn't live like that. So, at the end of another year, we feel better that we have acknowledged others, and they have acknowledged us. Isn't that what this celebration used to be about when it first started?
Goodness gracious. Reading all that back to myself. I sound like a bloody preacher. :-) LOL
Thanks (I'm not sure I really qualify for that but anyway) ;-)
Yup, and something we all do, or try to do. I commuted into London by train every day for 1 then 6 years. I rarely took a book or mp3 player because I preferred to talk to people. Not like the train nutter but if you sparked up a conversation with someone they often became friends rather than just anonymous grey dead faces.
I (finally) split up with my first wife (of 7 years) for that very thing. We were on holiday in Norfolk and had a chalet on Oulton Broad. I went off in the morning to get the breakfast supplies and on the way back stopped to chat with an elderly couple who lived on an ex hire boat in our summer and in a place in Spain in the winter. When I got back to the chalet she questioned where I had been and when I told her I'd been chatting to 'the couple on the boat' she asked "what those old people, what are you wasting your time talking to them for". Long story short I helped her into a cab and that was that.
Terrible. Our daughter is often very frustrated when she goes to hold a door open for (typically) an elderly person or just smile at them as they pass in the street. The number who just hold their belongings closer or don't return the smile. Under such circumstances I've been known to say a loud 'Hello?' just to push the point and get a reply! ;-)
Yep, I can see 3 keys here from neighbours houses and rarely a day goes by when I'm not helping *someone* round here by getting their cars started, programming their TV or checking out some faulty appliance. 'Tim'll fix it' it seems round here and I'm happy to carry that mantle.
Pathetic. Ok, there are a few people who might walk past here where it's never got past a nod or an 'alright but at least that's something eh. ;-)
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