Ebenezer Screw

Hello to all. It's been a long time since I wrote my last post and that's due to the fact that I am working 9 hours straight every day now and all my free time goes to rest. Christmas season, you see. Christmas...

I remember a time when this term use to mean something to me. I remember being a 12-year old, returning home after my PC lessons, singing Christmas songs while I was riding my bike. Cold air was entering my lungs, but I didn't care: There was something in the air, you know, just before it begins to snow. And I know that there was this huge Christmas tree waiting in the living room - oh, I could stand there and stare it for hours.

My mom put quite an effort every year to make the best possible Christmas tree and there was candy and presents and all that. Oh, and snow. There was a lot of snow, even for Trikala.

Now, there's misery and global warming. It snows for 2 hours and people call it "dangerous weather". I am not wating Christmas in order to rejoice, but because I will get 2 days of rest. I don't have a Christmas tree in my room. I don't even have those preety, little lights because they cost and eletricity costs as well. Plus, I don't have time to put all those lights into place, even if I had them. My mom is working alongside dad in Germany. My brothers are going there too, while I have to stay here to work.

The juxtaposition of Christmas is a middle-aged man, complaining about the cellphone bill on the cellphone company's hotline, in my shop, while "Last Christmas" is heard from the sound system. People lost the sense of the Holidays, and of course I know that this didn't happen this year or the last one. It's something gradual. The roots of this "issue" lie somewhere between economics, negativity and modernisation. Christmas is (was?) the ultimate kiddie phantasy, a time zone where everything felt like it came out of a story.

Nowadays, one does celebrate the Holidays because it MUST be that way! Not because it feels that way. The message is long forgotten - baby Jesus came to Earth, end of story. Seems the proper way to celebrate is to buy a cellphone for junior, a talking & shitting doll for our baby girl and then dance until morning on some table in bouzoukia or leave a dance club with alcohol pouring down your ears. OK, I am not suggesting that everyone should run to the church either. As with all things, the optimal optimum (optimus?) lies somewhere in the middle.

I think people should first and foremost remember how it felt to be a kid during Christmas. Forget about how expensive oil is, how much this toy or gadget costs, or how loud your boss yelled at you this morning. Focus on your loved ones, your kids, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your family, your friends. Try to combine western holiday feeling - Wham!, Christmas carol, the Tree, etc - with your country's tradition - little boats, traditional candy, tsoureki from Terkenlis (ok, this one is mine!), songs and customs of your country.

With the danger of making this post too cheesy or far too sentimental, I'll stop here. It might be the fact that I am dissapointed by what I see in my job, with all those customers entering the shop only to complain or being dragged by kids who wanna buy the latest cellphone or PS3. Sorry if I took you down today, but I promise, the next post will be different and a more joyful reading: I am buying my self a holiday present - an iPod Touch! Stay tuned for first impressions!