It’s mid-December and once again I find myself feeling hugely out of step with so many people as they start their Christmas early.

As I struggled into adulthood and realised that the end of year celebration was really just an excuse for commercial excess, I lost interest. I had a brief rekindling of enthusiasm when my son was little, but he was only five when he declared that Santa wasn’t real, so that put things squarely back into context. Now, when I see people lighting up their front yards in October (yes, October), I really start to squirm.

It doesn’t help that I’m not religious (that’s what attending Catholic school does for you), albeit that I have some sympathy for those Christians who really do see December 25th as a key date in their faith’s calendar, because their festival has been well and truly hijacked by greed, business and stupidity. I worry for the people who feel pressure to perform, to provide big meals for others, to entertain people they don’t much like, and to spend an awful lot of money they might not be able to properly afford. I really feel for those people who are told that they shouldn’t be alone at Christmas, and that if they are then there’s something wrong with them. Ultimately it’s just one day, and really it’s much like any other day other than the fact that the shops are shut. (Every year, though, on Christmas Day, Facebook is full of people asking if there’s a Tim Hortons coffee shop open – Moravian Town, on the Reserve, it’s open on Christmas Day every year).

Of course that all paints a very gloomy picture, and I’m not really a gloomy person, well not all the time. There is the fact that there are at least a couple of days off work for everyone, at least here in Canada, and New Year’s Day isn’t too far away. People use the time of year as an excuse for a party, and to have a drink or two, which is nice (although that really shouldn’t be limited to Christmas). And people do get off their bums to visit their families, which can be nice, mostly.

People other than me really enjoy lighting up their yards (in October), and buying gifts (Amazon helps), and they just like the season. Some really do enjoy their Christian festival by going to church and generally being more attuned to their faith, and others just like the feeling of well being. It’s all good, I guess.

Me, I still feel out of step, and I feel more out of step with every passing year. Maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll have a Dickensian epiphany. Maybe not. Bah, humbug!