Everyone has their own private rules when it comes to Christmas. The little quirks that make the special holiday what it is for each of us. My Christmas rule is that the festive season has not started until I hear The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York. It awakens all sorts of feelings of festivity within many of us. Well, I heard it for the first time this year the other day, so as far as I am concerned, the Christmas season is officially here- and with it, here come the Christmas hipsters.
It may not be a term you’ve heard before, and that’s because I just made it up. But you know the type; those who refuse to celebrate Christmas and thinks it’s somehow ‘edgy’ or ‘cool’ to hate the time of year from December to January. They are not safe until after New Year’s has come and gone. Worse than that, these Christmas hipsters love to put a dampener on your own festive spirit by telling you exactly why they hate Christmas and why you should, too. You cannot express love for the season without them launching into an anti-Santa, anti-roast dinner, anti-tree tirade.
For some, there are legitimate reasons to feel uncomfortable this time of year, some of which are often very sad. Those who have lost a loved one around this time of year can find the emphasis on family and togetherness difficult to bear, while others who are struggling to make ends meet financially might find the Christmas season overwhelming. Many may buckle under the stress of providing the ‘perfect’ Christmas for those around them. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe there is such a thing, and that’s half the fun. Some of my fondest Christmas memories include my brother knocking the tree down, or when the pavlova cake that my mother had made literally became the dog’s dinner when it was dropped on the floor.
Christmas is a very personal thing, and my heart goes out to those who struggle at this time of year for perfectly legitimate reasons.
Often what you will find is that such people will keep these feelings to themselves or express them in a way so as not to ruin anyone else’s Christmas spirit. This is the primary difference between them and the so-called ‘Christmas hipsters.’ Christmas hipsters make it their business to dampen the spirit of others, and I for one will never be able to figure out why. Why does one wake up in the morning and think their primary objective for the day is to spread the precise opposite of Christmas cheer? If Christmas isn’t your thing, that’s okay, but for many people (myself included) it is, and such people should be allowed to celebrate in peace.
The Christmas hipsters often fall into the category of ‘the anti-craic brigade’- those who must find fault with everything. Have you bought a lovely present for your loved one or close friend? The hipsters will be sure to remind you that to perform such an act is to be part of the unfeeling, often oppressive, capitalist regime. They will spout such terms as ‘rampant consumerism,’ and ‘excessive,’ often without fully understanding what these words mean. Are you going to spend Christmas day with your family, your grandparents, aunts and uncles? The Christmas hipsters will wonder why you only see them at this time of year and point out that if you really loved your family, you would not wait until Christmas to spend time with them. Give me a break.
Often, people grow to dislike Christmas because they have worked in retail. I understand the struggle- I have worked in a busy pub around Christmas time; it can be exhausting, and it can make Christmas feel cheap. Some shops can’t even get past Halloween without breaking out the reindeer and Santa decorations, just as they can’t make it to Christmas Eve without hauling out the New Year’s Eve stock. It can be easy to feel like Christmas is just a cash grab for an overly consumerist society. But the thing is, most of us know that. The cognitive dissonance of a peaceful Christmas going hand in hand with stressful shopping, cooking, and family is well known to anyone old enough to stop leaving carrots for the reindeer and writing letters to Santa. We don’t need to be reminded of it by the Christmas hipsters, most of whom only say they ‘hate Christmas’ for shock value, or to seem original.
Unfortunately for them, being a ‘Christmas hipster’ is not original anymore. There is enough strife in the world without being made to feel guilty for enjoying Christmas. With that in mind, I will enjoy the season as much as possible. Who knows? I might even write a letter to Santa.