Ho-Ho-Ho or Ho-Hum

PRO: Joy to the world, the holidays are here

By Jennifer Burdeen

burd0018@algonquincollege.com

In an individualistic world ruled by schedules and agendas, smart phones and television, a little magic and wonder can go a long way to thaw even the coldest of hearts. Whether it is the snowy nights, glistening lights, or unexpected delights of the holiday season, the month of December has a way of bringing out the best in people.

Although some would argue that Christmas is nothing more than a materialistic ritual created by money-hungry capitalists, I believe it is something so much more. Christmas isn’t about the presents at all; it is about spending time with family and friends and thinking of others before yourself. Unfortunately, we need a designated time each year to force us to realize the importance of these things, and if Christmas is that time, then it is my favourite time of year.

As a little kid, it was easy to get wrapped up in all the greed that can accompany the season. I wanted the newest toys, the latest clothes, and whatever my big sister thought was cool. As I’ve grown up, my Christmas wish list has become altogether different.

Family comes first. My mom has been asking me what I want for Christmas and honestly I’m stumped. A hot, home cooked turkey dinner with the family sounds like the perfect gift - it beats the countless nights of spaghetti and canned pasta sauce that has become the staple meal since I moved out of the house.

Because it’s true, once Christmas is over, you rarely remember what you got or who gave it to you, but you will surely remember who you spent time with - especially if they drove you crazy the entire day.

Helping others also finds a way of creeping into people’s usually all-too-busy lives during the holidays. Things like Toy Mountain, Operation Christmas Child, snowsuit funds, and food drives, are kicked into overdrive during the month of December and highlight the generosity of people.

One of my greatest holiday memories happened last year and had nothing to do with material goods. My best friend and I volunteered to pick up food for a day from various businesses across town for the Ottawa Food Bank. There was something about driving that oversized van down busy one-way streets, and us scrawny girls trying to lug huge boxes of cans through high-rise buildings, that had us both in stitches the entire day and filled with a sense of joy and accomplishment that only comes from helping others.

CON: 'Tis the season to be greedy

By Eric Scharf

scha0120@algonquincollege.com

If Santa really checked his list twice, no one would be getting gifts this year, because we are all more naughty than nice during the Christmas season.

It is mid-November and therefore I am being hassled to write down every single one of my Christmas wishes and know everything I want to buy for everyone else.

There I am doing the dishes with my girlfriend in our apartment, the simplest of tasks, or so I thought. Then bam, like a bomb going off, the argument begins with my loved one. “We can’t get him that, it’s too expensive!” “You are spending way more on your brother than my sister.” “That’s a boring gift.” “You really want to get them that?”

The fun never ends. Oh how I love this season.

Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Jesus of Nazareth’s birth, and I know you’re thinking “live in the now Eric." Alright, alright I will. In itself Christmas is supposed to be a religious holiday but we have managed to fill it with sin.

Gone are the days where late December is all about family; it is all about the gifts. Greed swirls through the heads of children as they write a wish list half a mile long of what they want, not need. To top things off, parents lie to their children, informing them that some magical being will come down their chimney delivering gifts to all those who have been nice not naughty.

Then comes the family feast. Finally some positive right? Time for joy and happiness with your lovely relatives.

Yet gluttony fills the air as everyone stuffs their faces with so much food they must at least unbutton the top button from their pants just to sit down.

Oh and the Christians are not the only religion filling the holiday season with greed. The Jewish community has eight nights of gift-giving during Hanukkah.

Our extremely greedy instant gratification society has ruined more than just Christmas. Almost all celebrations throughout the year have become about material possessions; candy and chocolates at Easter and Halloween.

Valentine’s Day, the day of love, costs couples hundreds of dollars in gifts and flowers.

People measure how much you care by what you give them and what you spend on them.

Now don’t get me wrong I don’t hate Christmas or the holiday season. I do not worship the Grinch, I do not own a Santa Claus voodoo doll, I am not a fanatical Christian and I don’t have a shrine erected in honour of Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge.

I am simply disgusted by what our society has let this time of ‘joy’ become.