For those of you not familiar with "Seinfeld", Festivus is a festivity invented by George's father to boycott Xmas. If Xmas is all about giving and thanking and being merry, Festivus is all about grievances, pointing fingers and basically bringing up to the surface all the irritation that has been boiling up inside before it actually explodes.
The idea in "Seinfeld" is obviously to ridicule George once again, about his family and the very unique way they live.
But if you think about it it's not a bad idea per se.
Having a Festivus from time to time would certainly help living Xmas with a better spirit and a clear conscience.
And maybe because I'm not feeling well and I fear this Xmas is going to be a complete disaster if I don't do something to change the actual course of things, that is not only my arrhythmia but also all the stress and the anxiety that caused it, I'm going to humour this original festivity just for a few lines.
And since the main source of anxiety and stress cannot be eliminated just yet, the only way to feel better is to get off my chest all the other small, but bothering nonetheless, things.
For instance!
What is it with people and not answering emails, or sms, or voicemails?
You receive a message from a friend who asks for help, you answer immediately and that's it... no thank you, no info about how it's going, nothing.
You send a message to congratulate someone on their birthday and... nothing.
You leave a voicemail asking for information and.... nothing.
I've been busy, extra busy in my life, sometimes even working 70 hours per week or even more but I've never been so busy that I couldn't be polite.
Because that's what it is: rudeness.
Seriously, the social outcome of this global financial crisis is that everyone has become rude.
You invite them at your place, they bring their dog, the dog makes a mess and they just leave it like that.
They arrive at an appointment 45 minutes late and the thought of offering an apology doesn't even cross their minds.
They don't help out because as they so conveniently announced as soon as they showed up, they had a terrible day!
Maybe I grew up in a very "peculiar" family, and yes, I know I did, but I was taught to always, always, no matter what the problem was, suck it up and make things happen.
And that's not just my family, really, it's the whole philosophy of the region where I come from.
You fall off the bike? Pick yourself up and try again until you can ride the bloody thing! And no calling off for mummy, mummy is not there for you.
You have to ask for a mortgage, you're burned out at work, you have health problems? Suck it up and keep on going.
As a result us people coming from the plains we hate the waterworks.
We just cannot stand the girls getting hundreds of get-out-of-jail free cards because they burst out sobbing when they should own up and accept the responsibilities of being an adult.
I'm sure everyone knows one example or 2. The classic one is the "work-howler". There was this girl I once knew who point blank decided to get herself a promotion and went to human resources to cry her eyes out. Result? What do you think?
It's a sort of a magic switch: every adult has to fence for themselves up until the moment in which someone opens the tap and then all of a sudden she's magically off the hook, cause poor thing she's crying!
Maybe I'm just jealous cause for the life of me I cannot cry! Really there was this time at school when we were called in at the principal's office to answer about an allegedly very bad thing we had done (I don't remember what), there was just the 2 of us, we sit there waiting almost giggling (that's how much we cared) until the principal arrives and my classmate starts sobbing miserably, she's so so..o..o..rry! Shocked at first by that sudden change I pathetically try and squeeze my eyes to produce the magic water but nothing! Guess who got the punishment?
Anyway! This Festivus must be working cause I feel better already!
Happy Festivus!
But above all, Happy Xmas for tomorrow!!!
The idea in "Seinfeld" is obviously to ridicule George once again, about his family and the very unique way they live.
But if you think about it it's not a bad idea per se.
Having a Festivus from time to time would certainly help living Xmas with a better spirit and a clear conscience.
And maybe because I'm not feeling well and I fear this Xmas is going to be a complete disaster if I don't do something to change the actual course of things, that is not only my arrhythmia but also all the stress and the anxiety that caused it, I'm going to humour this original festivity just for a few lines.
And since the main source of anxiety and stress cannot be eliminated just yet, the only way to feel better is to get off my chest all the other small, but bothering nonetheless, things.
For instance!
What is it with people and not answering emails, or sms, or voicemails?
You receive a message from a friend who asks for help, you answer immediately and that's it... no thank you, no info about how it's going, nothing.
You send a message to congratulate someone on their birthday and... nothing.
You leave a voicemail asking for information and.... nothing.
I've been busy, extra busy in my life, sometimes even working 70 hours per week or even more but I've never been so busy that I couldn't be polite.
Because that's what it is: rudeness.
Seriously, the social outcome of this global financial crisis is that everyone has become rude.
You invite them at your place, they bring their dog, the dog makes a mess and they just leave it like that.
They arrive at an appointment 45 minutes late and the thought of offering an apology doesn't even cross their minds.
They don't help out because as they so conveniently announced as soon as they showed up, they had a terrible day!
Maybe I grew up in a very "peculiar" family, and yes, I know I did, but I was taught to always, always, no matter what the problem was, suck it up and make things happen.
And that's not just my family, really, it's the whole philosophy of the region where I come from.
You fall off the bike? Pick yourself up and try again until you can ride the bloody thing! And no calling off for mummy, mummy is not there for you.
You have to ask for a mortgage, you're burned out at work, you have health problems? Suck it up and keep on going.
As a result us people coming from the plains we hate the waterworks.
We just cannot stand the girls getting hundreds of get-out-of-jail free cards because they burst out sobbing when they should own up and accept the responsibilities of being an adult.
I'm sure everyone knows one example or 2. The classic one is the "work-howler". There was this girl I once knew who point blank decided to get herself a promotion and went to human resources to cry her eyes out. Result? What do you think?
It's a sort of a magic switch: every adult has to fence for themselves up until the moment in which someone opens the tap and then all of a sudden she's magically off the hook, cause poor thing she's crying!
Maybe I'm just jealous cause for the life of me I cannot cry! Really there was this time at school when we were called in at the principal's office to answer about an allegedly very bad thing we had done (I don't remember what), there was just the 2 of us, we sit there waiting almost giggling (that's how much we cared) until the principal arrives and my classmate starts sobbing miserably, she's so so..o..o..rry! Shocked at first by that sudden change I pathetically try and squeeze my eyes to produce the magic water but nothing! Guess who got the punishment?
Anyway! This Festivus must be working cause I feel better already!
Happy Festivus!
But above all, Happy Xmas for tomorrow!!!
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