Editorial: Bah Humbug

By Chauncey Haworth

Is it just me, or does it not feel like Christmas this year? Is it the election? Maybe. I live on the very liberal West Coast and, you know, most people here aren’t thrilled with the results, but they seem to be doing all right with it. Plus, I have a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle, some down the middle and a few who have left the building. None of them seem as Christmassy as they have in past seasons, myself included.

I think it’s burnout. The world seems to have a lot of us hanging at the top of the rollercoaster loop, teetering on the edge of something. As soon as one issue is resolved, and I use that term loosely, another issue appears out of nowhere.

I don’t think this is about age. True, I’m getting older, which comes with all the usual baggage, but I see the same lack of Christmasy-ness in young people as well. The holiday feeling just isn’t there this year.

Perhaps it’s the pesky immigrants? Nope. Our Christmas is not being robbed by “heathens” or “heretics” from the four corners of the globe. Most immigrants here are Hispanic, and statistically speaking, most Hispanics are Catholic. As a person raised Catholic myself, I can guarantee you that Catholics go hard on Christmas.

Again, I have to say it’s burnout. Every movie is part of a franchise, just waiting for the next sequel to drop. Every newscast is a preamble, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

So, is this being done to us? Is it some nefarious design? Yes… and no. It would be cool if it was by design—aliens, magic, or shadowy government corporations executing a linear statistical plan to drive the populace to the point where we’d be willing to switch allegiances and swear an oath to some eldritch god from our twin planet hiding on the other side of the sun.

But how often is life “cool”? The real answer is that we’ve done this to ourselves. We’ve allowed ourselves to get caught up in the nonsense and ignore the moments. Even a brief life can be a string of mostly happy moments if you choose to be happy in them.

So, let’s save the misery for some great horror and pulp tales and, in between, drink and be merry.

How’s that for a two-dimensional, “happy for the sake of happiness” editorial to get some Christmas spirit going?