Job Discussion Forums

[Will.]

Hi Scot,
I believe the original was a team effort too and they couldn't agree either.....

I was wondering if we couldn't start a new version of greeting for this time of year.
I suggest we just say;


"Enjoy your days off school, work!" etc
"Happy days off!"
"Merry days off and a Happy New day off!"
"Best wishes and a happy day without work!"
"Wishing you the best, across the miles, on this your day off!"
"Happy Pig out day!"
"Enjoy your sit around and do nothing day!" ..... dangerous ground here.... for husbands only!!!!
And one from Those who pay for all this.
"You'd better enjoy your day off It cost you enough!"

Anyone care to add to the list?

[struelle]

I'm also a Christian and that's a big reason to celebrate Christmas. I agree with the posts about the commercialism taking away from the meaning, etc. Also I agree that it's silly for people in other cultures who normally don't celebrate this holiday to 'put on a show' for foreign guests (for example Wolf's story about turning down a Japanese Christmas party)

The gesture is nice for our hosts to offer, but culturally it just doesn't fit. For a non-Westerner to host such a holiday it is silly. It would be like me hosting a Ramadan fast for my Iranian friends in Canada, or hosting a Spring Festival for my Chinese friends. I can't claim to 'know' another culture so well as to *host* one of their customs!

Aside from all the traditional reasons to celebrate Christmas, this is my favorite time of year because it's a real, genuine *holiday*. That's right, time off to relax, and just enjoy life. After working hard in school and university, it was nice to end the term with 2 weeks of break. I totally forgot about school and work, and just enjoyed the holidays. Time with family and friends, lazy days sleeping in, trips to visit relatives, and more.

For that holiday it felt like the clock slowed down and people dropped their usual busyness to enjoy life.

In Shanghai at least, the clock never slows down. This time of year is especially difficult as people go about their work and school pressures, and the usual time of year for a break doesn't happen. Even during Spring Festival, it seldom feels like a holiday here. Maybe people enjoy life for one or two days, but even before the week is up, it's business as usual.

Steve

[george61]

Well, sorry about that, Roger.....I can understand not wanting to play Santa....everybody has different experiences, I guess. I get the opposite reaction...everybody wants to make sure I have a good time. I even get to play myself in a school play,at our forthcoming Xmas party..I can handle that!

[johnslat]

I'm back in the States for Christmas for the first time in many years.

Is there a lot of "commercialization" of the holiday/holyday?
There certainly is.
Does it bother me at all?
Nope.

The only thing that should matter is how YOU feel about Christmas. There's no way you can control or change what others do. Businesses and individuals are always going to use/abuse any significant event to make a buck. That's unfortunate but that's THEIR problem, not mine. And what they do doesn't affect how I feel or act in the slightest. Nobody can take what I think is "the spirit of the season" away from me. Just last night I was standing outside looking at the decorations so many people have already put up on and around their houses here. Sure, for at least some of them, it's an "ego thing": my Christmas display is bigger/better than yours. But I believe that for most, the true meaning of Christmas remains untarnished, despite all the hoopla. So "Bah, Humbug!" will never be my response - and it might not hurt to recall what transpired to the one (Scrooge) who originally uttered those words.
Regards,
John

[yaramaz]

I am happily agnostic, raised in a relaxed, vaguely buddhist/wiccan/ex anglican household. I like Christmas because I like the lights, the music, the food, the friends, the family, the decorations... it's a really lovely thing, at its best. I dont get stressed by the commercialism because I'm not sucked in by it. I just enjoy the pageantry.

Here in Turkey, well, it doesn't exist, and even though I've been here for a few Christmases, it still makes me feel like I'm missing out on something important. I get a 9 day holiday over the christmas week (2 weekends, 1 work week) and tend to jet off to a Christmassy place for my dose of whatever it is Christmas gives me. Happily, because Turkey is Muslim, cheap flights abound at this time of year because it isnt considered high season. Will be in Paris and London this year. Can't wait. I am dreaming of the lights twinkling and of christmas puddings bathed in brandy....mmmm

BTW, inexplicably, at my school, the Turks think of New Years Day as Christmas. For example, when I got back on the 29th from New York last year, they asked what I was going to do for Christmas. I thought they had made an error in tenses but no, they were referring to the 31st/1st....

[Lucy Snow]

Then there's the probably apocryphal story from Japan's bubble economy years. A department store manager in Tokyo told his assistants to put up a Christmas display at the entrance of the store. They came up with a crucifixtion scene. "No, no," said the manager, "Christmas is all about Santa Claus. Fix it!"

The next day, the assistants showed the manager the new display: Santa Claus nailed to a cross.

[biffinbridge]

Any excuse to 'large it' should be grasped with both hands and fully embraced.It's a bummer when you can't see your own kid though.

[dmb]

Biff, can you give directions to Bigshot's diner so I can 'large it' too after work on Xmas day