The Hillbilly Grinch Who Stole Christmas

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Someone posted a discussion earlier today about why people seem so grumpy and "down" in this supposed happy time of the year. I replied to the discussion, effectively becoming a grinch. I apologize for answering the question as I see it. But there are some things that people really need to understand about Christmas. 1. Not everybody is happy. I have a friend in Chicago whose son committed suicide this year after the VA refused to treat his PTSD. Gonna wish him a merry Christmas? My mom died during the Christmas season. Depression is a real disease that most people only hear about after someone kills him/herself or pulls a Joe Wesbecker (look it up). 2. Not everybody celebrates Christmas. This poses two problems: the atheists who get their panties in a bunch over a crèche, and the Christians who get their panties in a bunch if someone says the generic "happy holidays" (as opposed to something stupid such as, "Hey, you look Jewish, so happy Hanukkah"). It's hard to be happy when these people who are celebrating their big holiday are miserable and inflicting that misery on others, singing a refrain of poor, poor pitiful me (with apologies to Warren Zevon). 3. This time of year has built-in stress that is unfathomable. Think of the number of parties you have to go to. (I mentioned in my reply that I don't really want to go to my office party next week; however, by the same token, I also don't want to be unemployed next week. And, yes, there are lots of people who feel "pressured" into participating in the office parties...and for what? How much "fun" can you have with your boss sitting in the corner, taking notes if you have too much alcohol or food?) There are family get-togethers that you go to once a year for a reason: you don't necessarily like that family member. On top of that, consider the financial burden: that aforementioned "work pressure" to "chip in" to buy the boss a "nice gift," a bunch of $25 gift cards for those family members you only see once a year because you don't like them and subsequently don't know what they like, plus all the gifts for the spouse and kids. 4. Then there's the food. I am one of those who firmly believes in what was once referred to as the "Twinkie defense" (again, look it up), the idea that too much sugar acts like a depressant in many people. There are plenty of medical articles that back this up, too. This time of year is loaded with too much food (prompting the cash registers burning up thanks to gym memberships on January 1 [quick aside: the manager at the gym I go to said they make the majority of their money off of people who sign up for a year, such as joining for that New Year's resolution, then never come to the gym, easily offsetting the people who actually do come to the gym and use the equipment!]), and much of that food is sugary. The sugar high quickly dissolves into a "crash," resulting in bad feelings. 5. I loathe the month-long "good will toward men" baloney we endure. Oh, look, someone's buying a poor family a Christmas dinner. Bravo -- now, what are they going to eat the other 364 days? Maybe the most problematic thing, for me anyway, with Christmas is the artificial goodness that ends shortly after the tinsel is taken off the tree. Excuse me for sounding like a bumper sticker, but if more people spent every day acting like they do at Christmas it'd be a better world. So there are my reasons for understanding and accepting that people don't like this time of year, and they can be positively miserable when pressured into acting contrary to the way they truly feel. Again, I profoundly apologize to the person who posted the original discussion for coming across so negatively. Tis the season to be jolly.