The Morning After the Day Before.

Now first of all, let us begin with pleasantries, I do indeed hope you all had a spectacular Christmas and that all the things that normally plague the 25th of December (disappointment, arguments and over eating) did not befall you. Apart from that last one, since you know you’ve had a good Christmas if the only form of travelling available to you is rolling. But the thing with Christmas, the big C, is the fact that once it starts, it’s pretty much over. Let’s face it, Christmas is brilliant, and even though I didn’t feel particularly Cringle-y before hand, my Christmas was really very nice (thanks for asking) it was slightly quieter than usual, with, instead of a sudden stream of visitors, a steady trickle of people, which was a pleasant change. But the thing with Christmas is it’s only really a day long, unless you’re like my family used to be, and have 2 Christmas’s for whatever reason, and in that case it’s only an extra day, it’s not like Easter, who gets a whole weekend to itself!
You wake up on the 26th (or 27th) of December, look around you at the debris of wrapping paper, packaging and slowly increasing amounts of selection box chocolate wrappers, and think “was that it?” or “Well, all over now” or, if you’re my sister, “Oh yay, 15 days until my birthday!” and at that point I’d agree with you, sit down, eat some of your chocolates and tuck in to your turkey leftovers, because this year, the day after boxing day, I had to work, now I know you’re probably thinking “Think of the money” or “at least you have a job” and I appreciate these things, but it means I didn’t have a day to see my friends and say “Give me some chocolate! But first, what did you get” unlike last year where I saw some friends, got drunk and went to Argos (great fun). This all meant that my Christmas spirit, which was so freshly picked from the tree, was soon shot down, stuffed and eaten because I was forced to “move on”. As I say since my festive spirit was really new and I think this was what really got me down about this year, all I could say was “Yeah my Christmas was great thank you, and you?” to customers, which just isn’t the same as sitting in someone’s living room, with a cider, and reminiscing about something that happened only hours ago. So within 24 hours Christmas has been and gone, or so you would think.
See, being the sweet old romantic I am, I have always preferred the build up to Christmas, which is why I was so disappointed when I didn’t get psyched for it this year, the slow realisation that there is only X number of shopping days left, seeing all the decorations go up, and watching the kids go absolutely mental (from behind a childproof one way mirror) are all really great parts of the holiday. And like I said, if you don’t jump the gun and start prepping for it straight after Halloween, the build up to the 25th, to Christmas, can in fact be part of the holiday, if not the best part!
One prime example of this idea is the tradition of “secret Santa” (how secret can a fat guy in a red suit be?) for those who are not aware of this, it isn’t, as the name suggests, Chris Cringle hiding their secret identity like superman, what it is is, you have a list of people in a group, and then a list of people in the same group and mix and match them up so that someone is getting a gift for someone else, now that second part is very important, it’s just not the same getting for yourself, then you all anonymously give the gifts to one another, and no one knows who gave what.
That’s it in theory, in practise, not so much.
What actually happens is far more exciting and fun. People scramble around trying to figure out who has whom, and swapping names so that they can get for their friend, get to reuse an old gift or get for someone who may get drunk enough to sleep with them, searching bookstores and DVD racks and perfume stands for the perfect gift, then cop out, get them some bath salts and be done with it. But it’s not just the gifts that have the anticlimatical essence of Christmas; the entire concept of a “Secret” Santa does too. During the weeks lead up people are mysterious, elusive and hard to find or understand, much like a French spy, they’ll do anything and everything to stop people from finding out who they are getting for, just in case word leaks out and the entire operation is compromised and then, when it comes to the present giving this all goes out the window as people destroy the disguise they had worked so hard to maintain by saying; “Do you like it? If you do, it was me, if not; Joe was your secret Santa” I’m left with a very angry recipient of a lacklustre gift and the build up of mystery is abolished faster than you can say “Seriously, it doesn’t mean you smell bad STOP THROWING THINGS AT ME”
What I’m trying to say in a roundabout way is that seriously people, relish the build up to Christmas, and then enjoy Christmas day, because after that, all you have to look forward to is drinking into the new year and if, like me, you didn’t get to enjoy the best part of Christmas, not the turkey, presents or queens speech, but the carols, the shopping and the wrapping, you’ve got 11 months to get ready to enjoy the hell out of 2010.
Savour Christmas while it lasts, there’s not much time, and so much to do.

Joe Strange
Since next Tuesday we will be in 2010, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! And see you on the 5th!