By Yesenia Flores, Staff Reporter
Whether it’s because of religious reasons, a split family, lack of money, or a person simply not seeing a reason to participate, many of us that don’t celebrate specific holidays or any at all.
The holiday season never fails to bring me at least a handful of people making a sad puppy dog face at me while they say they feel sorry after I tell them my holiday plans. What are those “sad” holiday plans exactly? Catching up on sleep (come on, the semester is over); cooking a delicious meal for one, and binge-watching my latest fixation, “Grey’s Anatomy.”
To a lot of people, this can seem strange because the holiday season is obnoxiously everywhere. I mean, between the high pitched trill of bad Christmas carolers, grocery stores abundantly overstocked with eggnog, those blinding sparkly decorations and don’t even get me started on the holiday music. You can’t go anywhere without hearing the holiday national anthem: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
The societal norms around the holiday season include having a ton of family gather for dinner, decorating homes with Christmas lights and inflatable snowmen, and going on shopping sprees in jam-packed department stores. While these holiday traditions are normal for you, having a laid back holiday is normal for me. But by no means do I criticize anybody who participates in such festivities because I, too, participated in all these once before.
The reason why was because it was my family’s norm to do so. All the lights, music, and people around me seemed whimsical. But just like societal norms change, so did mine. Over the years, our ideals and enjoyments began to differentiate from others. Although we continue to enjoy each other’s company, things have led my norms to become simply being at home in comfortable sweats during the holiday season. Of course, certain circumstances are to blame, but there is no rhyme or reason for people to feel sorry about it.
I find it considerate when people invite me to their family events, but the holidays are just another day for me. I enjoy not having to get dressed up just to sit in the living room and have aunts ask me about my relationship status.
As a full-time student that holds a full-time job, it is actually a sigh of relief to have a guaranteed day off from both of these responsibilities.
