Kristen Gyles | Taking ‘silly’ out of Christmas season

What is Christmas without a big Christmas tree? And what is a big Christmas tree if it’s not decked from top to bottom in flashing lights and wrapped in the glimmer and glamour of other decorations?

Christmas traditions can teach us a lot about human behaviour and the quest for belonging. The cost of the pretty Christmas décor is sometimes only a widow’s mite when contrasted to what it will cost to dress the kids in new clothes and give them gifts. Never mind that we may have struggled to pay their school fees and buy their textbooks just four months ago at the beginning of the school year. The Christmas gift list is still untouchable. And then, there is the expectation of having a freshly repainted house and new furniture for Christmas.

Sometimes we have to re-evaluate our traditions and ask ourselves whether they are really serving us, and consider that, perhaps, we are the ones serving our traditions. A 2017 personal finance article in the Forbes magazine cited a survey done by an American non-bank mortgage service provider, in which a third of respondents said they would prefer to skip Christmas rather than spend money on gifts. The financial pressure associated with the holiday was, for them, too overwhelming. At the risk of sounding judgemental, how hard is it to simply not spend the money you don’t want to spend?

ENCOURAGED

There is a reason some say Christmas is the silly season. It is the season when silly behaviour is not only normalised but encouraged. A classic example is food wastage at Christmas time. Somehow, despite the greed and gluttony associated with Christmas, loads of food get wasted every year. People simply buy too much food and when stuffing it into their bodies doesn’t work, they stuff what is left in the trash.

On January morning when we are all headed back to work and when the children are headed back to school, some of us will have to be rolled through the office or classroom door. And then we will set a lofty New Year’s resolution of losing 75 pounds. That, too, is a part of the tradition.

The good thing about the silly season is that the silliness of the average consumer benefits big business. And frankly, someone may as well benefit from all the antics. The largest and most lucrative businesses eagerly anticipate the skyrocketing of revenues at this time of the year. In fact, at Christmastime, we literally run with our money in hand begging these businesses to take our cash. All that is needed is a big price tag with a ‘10% off’ label on it to excite us into turning over our cash. After the excitement dissipates, we will go back to chanting down fire on the capitalist system that made us poor.

So, what is it about Christmas time that makes us so silly? Some will say it’s the pious devotion to celebrating the birth of Christ. But, since we are almost certain that Jesus was not born during winter and since randomly decorating a tree is a rather awkward way of celebrating anyone’s birthday, it is clear enough that the Christmas revelry far transcends the issue of Jesus’ birth. So, what is it then?

Well, who doesn’t love a good party?

A study done in 2019 by Canadian research firm Angus Reid Institute highlighted that 53 per cent of Canadians thought Christmas was primarily festive or fun while 10 per cent thought it was primarily religious. Similar studies done in other jurisdictions suggest the same thing – “we all just wanna have fun” – and Christmas is a great excuse to have all the fun, all at once, guilt-free.

CAUTION

But let’s not throw caution through the window. There won’t be much fun in January when the Christmas leftovers are done (or thrown out) and our mouths are watering for January’s pay.

Another sobering truth is that the economy just doesn’t support big spending right now. The All-Jamaica Consumer Price index, for example, increased by 10.3 per cent over the past 12 months, mostly due to the increase in prices of produce and other food items as well as restaurant services. This means the big pig on the table, and the layers of Christmas cake cost quite a bit more than they did last year this time. Again, the food establishments will have a field day this Christmas, but what about you?

Let’s also not forget that for the duration of the entire COVID-19 pandemic we have been complaining about those wretched electricity bills. With the Government’s We CARE Energy Co-Pay Programme having ended earlier this year, many are simply gearing up to squander away whatever amount they were spared having to spend on electricity then, on their usage of pepper lights now.

Balance is key. Fun, food and festivity with family is great, but people can have fun, enjoying food and festive times together without breaking the bank. In fact, if it is gifts and money bringing everyone together, they may as well stay apart. Perhaps we should approach this festive season bearing in mind the possibility that life may not end on December 25. Why hurry to spend it all now when there will be more than enough to spend on after all the festivities have died down?

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com.