Christmas

I hate christmas. Well the idea is nice but its just sensory overload everywhere you go. Bright lights, crowds, loud music, horrible scents. And worst of all GLITTER. For some reason people like to put glitter on EVERYTHING, especially this time of year. I have a terrible phobia of it so yeah christmas is just a huge no for me.

Having worked in supermarket retailing for over 30 years at age 53, including in my native Ireland and here in the U.K., I do empathise, as I’m also very religious minded, as I was raised Catholic in Rural Ireland - not only has Christmas become way too commercialised, it starts ever earlier every year and after Halloween is finished, it’s full on Christmas, where one Christmas Eve before leaving work, I saw the shop floor teams putting out Easter Eggs - people have forgotten the “reason for the season” about which they are in denial and it’s now a taboo to even mention it - trying to find a Christmas Crib (Nativity Scene) is almost impossible in most shops nowdays and when you do find one, it is massively overpriced - I was lucky to find mine at a local Catholic shop a few years ago in Ireland that was made by Enclosed Catholic Nuns and was Blessed by the local Bishop, so as soon as I made my own star for it, I pinned it on the top and I super-glued the figures in the correct place so I take it out every year - I’m lucky to be able to attend a Traditional Latin Mass on Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day, where I’ve also found a Rosary group - during Covid, I was not able to attend any Masses so I simply prayed the Rosary on Christmas Day - I never travel in the run up to Christmas as it’s a nightmare, trains get cancelled, flights are fully booked, coaches are full up, ferries stop operating, so I usually travel home to Ireland from Manchester by train or coach and on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin just after Christmas - this year, I’m hearing that there may be travel disruptions out of Dublin to where I come from in Rural Ireland, so I may have to delay this further into next year than usual, possibly into Feb or March 

Having worked in supermarket retailing for over 30 years at age 53, including in my native Ireland and here in the U.K., I do empathise, as I’m also very religious minded, as I was raised Catholic in Rural Ireland - not only has Christmas become way too commercialised, it starts ever earlier every year and after Halloween is finished, it’s full on Christmas, where one Christmas Eve before leaving work, I saw the shop floor teams putting out Easter Eggs - people have forgotten the “reason for the season” about which they are in denial and it’s now a taboo to even mention it - trying to find a Christmas Crib (Nativity Scene) is almost impossible in most shops nowdays and when you do find one, it is massively overpriced - I was lucky to find mine at a local Catholic shop a few years ago in Ireland that was made by Enclosed Catholic Nuns and was Blessed by the local Bishop, so as soon as I made my own star for it, I pinned it on the top and I super-glued the figures in the correct place so I take it out every year - I’m lucky to be able to attend a Traditional Latin Mass on Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day, where I’ve also found a Rosary group - during Covid, I was not able to attend any Masses so I simply prayed the Rosary on Christmas Day - I never travel in the run up to Christmas as it’s a nightmare, trains get cancelled, flights are fully booked, coaches are full up, ferries stop operating, so I usually travel home to Ireland from Manchester by train or coach and on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin just after Christmas - this year, I’m hearing that there may be travel disruptions out of Dublin to where I come from in Rural Ireland, so I may have to delay this further into next year than usual, possibly into Feb or March