Everybody in my household thinks that Xmas is a bad thing. So, that is exactly one person – me
Xmas pricing annoys me, for instance extortionate Xmas lunches in garden centres targeting the pensioner pound. Or ordinary objects such as bottle openers, with £10 added on merely for shiny red packaging. Then, when I hear ‘Happy Xmas, War is Over’ churned out for the zillionth time, I want to shout at John Lennon’s ghost.
On the other hand, I support seasonal gluttony, and I love the excuse to buy better quality wine and incongruous food. There is nothing quite like a turmeric infused trifle. I like pre-Xmas get-togethers with their low-key atmospheres, and I cultivate sentimental feelings about travelling through silent, night-time villages with Xmas trees.
If I am alone at Xmas. I fully understand that the recognised protocol is to feel deeply sad, but actually I quite like it. There’s an absence of the warmth of other people, but also the unsettling things are avoided: awkwardness, tension, quarrels, and let’s not forget, for some people Xmas togetherness is a serious time where drunken violence peaks.
For me, Xmas afternoon sitting round watching TV and eating chocolate with other people, is one of the least pleasant variations of ennui available, well, with the exception of board games. They’re called ‘bored games’ for a reason.
My preferred Xmas is at somebody else’s house; to take advantage of the Xmas dinner. Then, when people start threatening to get the board games out, I make a quick exit.
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