Page 46 2013 Home for the Holidays Special edition of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com
Is there any hope, any help for the
Christmas curmudgeons among
us? Scientific studies have shown
that the longer a person has been
a Christmas curmudgeon, the less
likely it would be that he will
ever be normal and come to enjoy
Christmas. Catching this syn-
drome later in life ensures a greater
chance of reversing some or all of
the symptoms.
Perhaps the first thing to
consider in bringing about
a cure is to better under-
stand the Christmas cur-
mudgeon from his point of
view.
Google searching the term
Christmas curmudgeon
brings up thousands of
entries of men claiming
to be Christmas curmudg-
eons, but only one that
said what causes him to
be a Christmas curmudgeon. It is
an article on a website aptly named
All Women Stalk, and the title is “8
Reasons Why I Don’t Like Christ-
mas,” at
com/8-reasons-why-i-dont-like-
christmas.
The author states these eight rea-
sons for being a Christmas cur-
mudgeon and gives great insight
into the syndrome:
1.
There is no getting away from it,
Christmas is just in your face!
2
. Christmas is so commercial.
3.
Christmas doesn’t have anything
to do with Christ anymore!
5. Christmas is expensive!
6.
Visiting the family is not just
supposed to be a Christmas experi-
ence.
7.
Everything about Christmas is
overkill!
8.
The Christmas decorations have
taken over!
The numbering is not amiss: His #4
answer is the key to it all and the
starting place to unravel the secret
of the Christmas curmudgeon:
4.
Pressure! The pressure to go
to all those relatives’ houses, and
buy them all gifts, and send all the
friends Christmas cards, and so on
and so forth.
Perhaps the first cause that pushed
this ordinary person into the Christ-
mas curmudgeon syndrome is the
pressure that our society places
on all this Christmas hubbub. The
mandatory trips to all the relatives’
houses and the escalation and com-
petition for giving the most expen-
sive, creative, exorbitant gifts start
the cycle of hating and even being
allergic to Christmas.
So how do we take the
bug out of the humbug?
One of my Christmas
curmudgeon friends
said he is an incurable
Christmas curmudgeon:
He just wants some-
thing to be grouchy
about, and Christmas
provides the perfect
target.
But even the most per-
fect Christmas grouch cannot resist
the allure of genuine sympathy and
wholehearted partnership.
Here’s how you start as a couple:
The next time you two are in Wal-
Mart and see Christmas decorations
in July, agree with the Christmas
curmudgeon that it is certainly
ridiculous and is mere wanton
