People are getting tired of all the flack. They are fed up with the “plasticity” of Christmas cheer.
by Victor Cherubim
Whether it is a Christmas Eve party, a Christmas Day soiree, a Hogmanay,(the Scots word for the last day of the year and/or ushering in the New Year) or even a family affair during the festive season, people are now likely to want something different to ensure a cheerful celebration.
Just picture the scene in England this Christmas. Families sitting around the fireplace, watching TV or listening to the Kings College Cambridge Choir, singing Christmas Carols by candlelight in the traditional ole English chant.
Granted the choir of Kings is one of the world’s finest ensembles, one can hardly improvise the subtle direction of either Conductor David Willcocks, Philip Ledger or the current Stephen Cleobury, in the field of conducting or the mixture of voices of both men
and boy’s melody.
Then, there is the tradition of the Christmas Crackers and Plum Pudding, the clicking of sherry glasses, the exchange of gifts, the meeting of friends and family beside the flickering lights of the Christmas tree.
Well, now that I have haunted you with the ghost of Christmas parties past and present, you will be pleased to know that this year it may be a bit different.
For a start, it is not because it won’t be a “white Christmas”. The bookies are not taking any more bets on snow or flurries on Christmas Day.
It won’t be a mountain of “pigs in blankets” and enough mulled wine to fill a swimming pool. It won’t be “oomping up” the Christmas decorations. Why?
There appears to be a new, but fresh air of the way people plan to spend Christmas. There are no trains, or underground or other ways of public transport this Christmas. The shops are closed, the streets are going to be empty, other than for the odd homeless sleeping rough. Though Boris Johnson, the newly elected Prime Minister has said it won’t be an austere Christmas, people around Britain are seemingly getting tired of the old ways of celebrations and are resorting to new ways of turning in the light of Christmas in their homes and neighbourhood.
People are making their homes smell like Christmas. The Christmas tree has got shorter, the flickering lights has seen better days, the images of Father Christmas has changed.
Wham! Bang! It’s Mum instead of Dad donning Santa’s gown and pulling the Christmas crackers at table and Dad putting on the fancy hat from the “bon bons,” cutting and serving the Christmas turkey dinner.
A personalised Christmas on the cards?
People are getting tired of all the flack. They are fed up with the “plasticity” of Christmas cheer. It is quite unlikely that families are inviting people they barely know to their Christmas bash, besides, instead of mates, friends, or family, bringing a bottle or two, many are told to bring a dish or two, or as most parties go today, people are ordering all their party food, families are getting cleaners to clean up the clutter after the party. It does not cost a “bomb” and it does not take too much effort to organise either.
People are becoming savvy. Families are also saving the arguments around the Christmas table and instead of all the screaming of the young shouting: Dad play “Destiny’s Child” there is a music Play List planned instead. Families now try and anticipate the mood of Christmas and the party at different times of the day, evening, night or daybreak, starting with festive time tunes, then after past midnight, BOOM, hit the young ones with “Crocodile Rock” or something similar to get into the grove.
People now don’t force fun at Christmas
The days are gone when Christmases were “forced fun”. Christmas cheer is now well
anticipated but not forced or part of a set routine. What arises naturally when the time, or the mood is right is on order. It is no longer sharing of Christmas gifts, followed by sherry and drinks, followed by cutting the turkey, followed by quick fire party games and mince pies and Christmas “pud”.
After midnight, not everyone gets the munchies, so if food is not served early and the party is to due to go on ( and on) food is a must for fuelling the energy of the guests or the party into the “wee small hours” or even sobering up.
Anyone – friends or family staying on over the party may well end up going home, but as there is danger after drink driving and particularly no public transport on Christmas Day, so Minicab numbers are part of this readiness. For those staying over, extra blankets and cushions are ready to make them comfortable and rested.
The Season is hardly over
But has Christ, the new born babe, the “God made Man” gone out of Christmas. Not really? The emphasis is more on the community of man. The hard or the fun depending on what way you at it, Christmas in England is different today. That does not mean it is not celebrated in style, or according to one’s belief? The way it appears today people are tired of the glitter and are wanting to make it more personal, to accommodate to both the times and their style of living day.
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