(Topic ID: 257780)

Christmas bah humbug!!!!!

By bssbllr

4 years ago


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“Do you and your spouse exchange gifts for Christmas. ”

  • Yes 66 votes
    60%
  • No 44 votes
    40%

(110 votes)

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There are 139 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 3.
#51 4 years ago
Quoted from RWH:

I buy my dogs Christmas and birthday gifts every year.

Me too..he’s the 1st one that I shop for!!

#52 4 years ago

It is just the wife and I and we have been married for 20 years now.. So we don;t go whole hog for xmas, but I do like to pick her up a few things to unwrap. However, we buy whatever we want thru-out the year, so it's not really a big deal. However, I did buy her a Yamaha Clavinova Baby Grand this year It's kind of hard to hide, so I already gave it to her.

#53 4 years ago

Christmas is mostly about my kids, but we do get gifts for each other. Usually nothing major. This year I got her a new handbag and I think she got me a lego set.

I'm not religious, so we definitely celebrate the fabricated holiday. For us it's just a great excuse to get friends and family together, eat a bunch of great food, and give some fun gifts.

I really like giving gifts.

#54 4 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

I’ve been told that women love exercise equipment and vacuums for Christmas!! The best gift of course is a peloton bike!!![quoted image]

Funny thing is after all the stink online about the commercial, my wife (whom is not even close to being overweight) asked me for a Peloton bike for Christmas LOL

#55 4 years ago
Quoted from PDX-Mike:

commercial, my wife (whom is not even close to being overweight) asked me for a Peloton bike for Christmas LOL

The power of marketing.

#56 4 years ago
Quoted from Wolfmarsh:

I really like giving gifts.

I have a few favorite games I can list if gifting was that important for you.

#57 4 years ago
Quoted from RandyW:

we have been married for 20 years now..

That’s a gift in its self. Keep it up.

#58 4 years ago
Quoted from bssbllr:

That’s a gift in its self. Keep it up.

It is actually, 20 years on the 27th of this month, with no signs of stopping

#59 4 years ago

Spiked egg nogg,midnight mass and pinball are a tradition at my house and forever will be they all go hand in hand only if churches had pinball.

#60 4 years ago
Quoted from RandyW:

27th of this month, with no signs of stopping

I met my wife on the 28th of this month In 91’ she was 14. We never looked back and damn proud of it.

Edit: had to put the right year. Not 92’ lol

#61 4 years ago
Quoted from Pinaddict91:

Spiked egg nogg,midnight mass and pinball are a tradition at my house and forever will be they all go hand in hand only if churches had pinball.

Did the midnight mass one time with the family in Ohio when I was in town. No spiked egg nog or pinball but the time with family after was awesome good times and good memories.

#62 4 years ago
Quoted from bssbllr:

I met my wife on the 28th of this month In 92’ she was 14. We never looked back and damn proud of it.

Nice! I had my first date with my wife when we were both 16. We're now both 64 and been married for 41 years.

#63 4 years ago

I bought my wife the Weather Tech cell phone cup holder thing for Christmas. I’m such a romantic guy.

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#64 4 years ago

Im just a few Years behind you Bryan....Met at 15, together since, and now 60.

I DO ask her for the "Same Gift" Every Christmas........Never happens........

#65 4 years ago

Get her the Weather Tech cell phone holder and she’ll do anything you ask

#66 4 years ago
Quoted from bssbllr:

I met my wife on the 28th of this month In 92’ she was 14. We never looked back and damn proud of it.

My wife rescued me on July 4th 1999. We have been inseparable ever since.

#67 4 years ago

We don't buy for each other...we usually take a trip at Christmas. Just got back from 10 days in Germany/Austria.

#68 4 years ago
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

Nice! I had my first date with my wife when we were both 16. We're now both 64 and been married for 41 years.

Now that’s something to brag about. Awesome job you two.

#69 4 years ago
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

Im just a few Years behind you Bryan....Met at 15, together since, and now 60.
I DO ask her for the "Same Gift" Every Christmas........Never happens........

Congrats on that and many more years of blessings.

#70 4 years ago
Quoted from RandyW:

My wife rescued me on July 4th 1999. We have been inseparable ever since.

Have to hear this one.

#71 4 years ago
Quoted from RandyW:

My wife rescued me on July 4th 1999.

Funny do we all feel like that?

#72 4 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

Just got back from 10 days in Germany/Austria.

Sounds better then any gift I ever got for Christmas. Lol

#73 4 years ago

The year we decided to not exchange gifts my enjoyment of Christmas seemed to get a boost. I tell my wife to find a home improvement project and either I’ll do it or pay someone to do the job. Nothing crazy like a new kitchen but something small. She really likes it and there’s nothing I hate more than shopping. She gets me nothing and that’s just the way I want it.

#74 4 years ago
Quoted from Chisox:

She really likes it and there’s nothing I hate more than shopping. She gets me nothing and that’s just the way I want it.

Me too, must be a guy thing.

#75 4 years ago

We do Christmas. We aren’t religious. Christmas was really a pagan end of the season thing anyway. So we do what you’re supposed to do - take time off to appreciate the good stuff we have and spend time with the people we love. Does that make it a Hallmark holiday? I agree buying stuff just because you’re made to feel you are supposed to do so is bad. But that’s only the point if you make it the point. Which I think is the OP’s point.

#76 4 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

We do Christmas. We aren’t religious. Christmas was really a pagan end of the season thing anyway. So we do what you’re supposed to do - take time off to appreciate the good stuff we have and spend time with the people we love. Does that make it a Hallmark holiday? I agree buying stuff just because you’re made to feel you are supposed to do so is bad. But that’s only the point if you make it the point. Which I think is the OP’s point.

Good point

#77 4 years ago

My kids are both in their twenties living with us. I’m the gift that keeps on giving.

#78 4 years ago

I celebrate Christmas as the beginning of the road to salvation that I desperately need but don’t deserve at all. That’s what I try not to overlook with everything else going on, the greatest gift of all. My wife and I enjoy Christmas Eve service, and exchange presents the next morning with family. This year we’re blessed to have all four grown kids coming to be with us, including two coming from other states. This reminds me, I need to water the tree tonight!

#79 4 years ago

I will be glad when it is over because of all the TV commercials.

"every gift begins with Kay"

"he went to Jarred"

And now the last few years new cars with big ass bows on them.

My girlfriend is sick of the commercials also and rolls her eyes when they come on.

#80 4 years ago
Quoted from JohnnyPinball007:

And now the last few years new cars with big ass bows on them

Just saw the Lexus car commercial big red bows on them. lol

#81 4 years ago

I’m an atheist and love Christmas! The religious aspects have no bearing to me but they do for a lot of folks, so I respect the joy that they get from the holiday. But for me and my family, we love to decorate, get each other gifts, etc. We love to go look at house decorations, go to the big drive through light shows, and now living on the water, going to the annual Christmas boat parade. I love buying gifts but am horrible to buy for, and normally buy something for myself anyway. I love getting drunk, watching Die Hard, and wrapping up my gifts. You can tell which presents were later in the night. One of my favorite things to do is take my daughter and go shopping for Toys for Tots. This has become a thing we have done for the last several years and she loves it as much as I do.

At the end of the day, Christmas is what you make it. Do what feels good to you!

#82 4 years ago
Quoted from DBLM:

watching Die Hard

Nothing says Christmas like this. Lol

Quoted from DBLM:

One of my favorite things to do is take my daughter and go shopping for Toys for Tots

That’s great, at one point years ago I had help from toys for tots when things were rough. Glad it inspires you and keep it up.

Quoted from DBLM:

At the end of the day, Christmas is what you make it. Do what feels good to you!

Well put.

#83 4 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

I agree buying stuff just because you’re made to feel you are supposed to do so is bad. But that’s only the point if you make it the point. Which I think is the OP’s point.

You got it. Have a merry Christmas.

#84 4 years ago

Got to love my Santa in a hammock and my jumping dolphin with a Santa hat lights!

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#85 4 years ago

We are teaching our kids to break these commerce drivin holiday traditions due to the enormous amount of pollution generated from them.

We have truly lost our way as human beings on this earth...read this article below and change your habits or just bury your head and continue on...

General
The True Cost of Christmas
Posted on December 4th / 2016 by Andy Jessop
christmas-1058667_1280
Christmas is by far one of the busiest and most celebrated holidays in the UK. It is the time when we eat the most food, spend the most money, and of course, enjoy ourselves in the company of family and friends.

But while we feast, wine and dine our way through December and into January, what toll does Christmas have on the environment?

The impact of Christmas food

It could be said that overeating is a tradition in itself, but each year we munch and guzzle our way through no less than:

370 million mince pies
250 million pints of larger and beer
35 million bottles of wine
10 million turkeys
Accumulated, this means that during the Christmas season, we eat as a nation, 80 per cent more food than during the rest of the year.

The downside to this, however, is that we are producing excess waste and pollution to the point where we are binning 230,000 tonnes of food during the Christmas period. That’s the equivalent of:

74 million mince pies
Or

2 million turkeys
At the price of £275 million.

In fact, the University of Manchester recently calculated that our combined Christmas dinners produce the same carbon footprint as a single car travelling 6,000 times around the world.

Of course, there are also financial impacts, and each household is expected to spend at least £170 on festive food this year, despite 35 per cent of people admitting that they throw more food away at Christmas than at any other time of the year.

The impacts of wrapping paper and packaging

presents
As well as food, it is also important to think about the wrapping paper and packaging that we purchase, use and discard during the Christmas period.

This year, we are expected to throw away no less than 227,000 miles of wrapping paper, enough to wrap around the Island of Jersey

Additionally, if we placed all our Christmas cards alongside one another they would stretch around the world 500 times.

We also get through 4,500 tonnes of tin foil and 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging during the Christmas season.

Greenpeace recently found that as little as 1kg of wrapping paper emits 3.5Kg of CO2 during its production process, taking 1.3kg of coal to power its production.

This does not take into account further packaging and transportation.

But what about batteries?

Now more than ever we are showering our friends and family with electronic toys and devices of great varieties. The only issue is that some of these gifts require disposable batteries.

On average, we buy ten batteries per year for gadgets and toys. In 2009, only two out of every ten of these found their way to recycling plants.

The EU Batteries Directive has set battery recycling targets at 45 per cent for 2016.

Last year the UK recycled 36 per cent of all batteries and 83 per cent of lead acid batteries.

You can now recycle used batteries in shops around the UK, as stores selling more than 32kg of batteries a day must provide instore recycling bins.

Christmas trees and decorations

It is without doubt that Christmas lights are part and parcel of most living room decorations during December and January.

Unfortunately however, Christmas tree lights tend to be switched on for an average of ten hours a day, which produces enough CO2 to fill five party balloons, if they happen to be incandescent bulbs.

But you can still enjoy Christmas tree lights while being eco-friendly.

For example, a 70 count string of 5mm Wide Angle LEDs uses only 4.8 watts, whereas a 100 count string of incandescent mini lights would run at 40 watts.

Old incandescent bulbs can use up to 80 per cent more wattage, and at the same time, use up to 90x more power than LED bulbs.

So what about Christmas trees?

Many people have short-lived debates over buying fake or real Christmas trees, but this decision has consequences for the environment.

Each year we buy 6-8 million real Christmas trees, with 5.3 million households opting for artificial trees:

Artificial trees:

Produced in South Korea, Taiwan or China, and are shipped thousands of miles to get to your home.
Are non-biodegradable, so are sent to landfill or are incinerated.
Real Christmas trees:

Are grown over a period of 7 to 10 years.
Help protect and stabilise soil.
Are biodegradable.
Also need to be transported, but at much shorter distances.
Is Christmas really that bad?

pug
Waste is important and will have an important part to play in our future too, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t enjoy Christmas, or that we should feel guilty about wrapping presents for our friends and family.

With that in mind, however, here is a table of the average extra waste generated over the Christmas period each year, based on January rubbish and recycling collections:

Source
Source
For those who want to know more about how to prevent extra waste, DEFRA has recently launched its Waste Prevention Programme in partnership with WRAP.

The BBC also provides guidance on how to reduce Christmas waste.

Take a look at our full infographic here.

Further sources:

Harris, M. (2012) This festive waste [waste management], Engineering & Technology (17509637), 6, 12, pp. 30-33.

Available from: http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/et.2011.1203

Pool, R. (2012) The nightmare after Christmas [food waste disposal], Engineering & Technology (17509637), 6, 12, pp. 38-41.

#86 4 years ago

Some pics from the Christmas Boat parade. Such a blast!

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#87 4 years ago
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

commerce drivin holiday traditions

I buy 3 cards a year, all for Mom. Cards are all she wants, Christmas, Mothers Day, her birthday.

I hate cards, and glad I do not get many. Now...if the card is funny, that is different.

In my lifetime I may have used one small roll of wrapping paper.

Another crazy thing is Honey Baked Ham. It is good, but 10.49 a pound?

#88 4 years ago

Christmas is for kids and grandchildren.

If it were only me and my wife, it would just be another day.

#89 4 years ago
Quoted from bssbllr:

I’ve gotten a live tree for the last 20yrs. Loved doing it. Now the kids are growing the gifts are more necessities like phones and clothes. I put the tree up and it sits there bare till me and the wife decorate it. It’s like the kids don’t really care much so it’s not worth it any more. Probably didn’t help with my situation.

We always used to go cut a tree down, but Alaska trees are whole different animal. Look like charlie brown trees only bigger. After 2 years, we gave up and bought a fake one. Ones that are shipped up are too much or already dying and just not worth it.

#90 4 years ago

As far as gifts, I always say not to get me anything, but I always get her something nice. Almost 20 years, and we spend as much time as we can together.

#91 4 years ago
Quoted from PDX-Mike:

Funny thing is after all the stink online about the commercial, my wife (whom is not even close to being overweight) asked me for a Peloton bike for Christmas LOL

My wife said to definitely “not” buy her any kind of bike/fitness stuff or household cleaning device. We actually went by the peloton store in Charlotte NC today and looked at the bikes: she’s still not interested....

Best thing about Christmas is spending time with family. We had a great trip to the mall and saw some amazing decorations.

#92 4 years ago
Quoted from Mike_J:

Christmas is for kids and grandchildren.
If it were only me and my wife, it would just be another day.

“ Christmas isn’t just for kids Charlie Brown!”

Linus

#93 4 years ago
Quoted from Tomass:

Ones that are shipped up are too much or already dying and just not worth it

It started with buying it from Lowe’s. Man by Christmas it was just a stick tree and my vacuum got clogged etc. Much better buying local. Merry Christmas.

#94 4 years ago
Quoted from Tomass:

Almost 20 years, and we spend as much time as we can together.

They are your best friend. Merry Christmas.

#95 4 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

Best thing about Christmas is spending time with family. We had a great trip to the mall and saw some amazing decorations.

Your wife seems like an amazing lady not letting you waste your money on the new coat rack in the room. Time spent together is valuable cherish it.

#96 4 years ago
Quoted from PDX-Mike:Funny thing is after all the stink online about the commercial, my wife (whom is not even close to being overweight) asked me for a Peloton bike for Christmas LOL

I looked into that and it was around $2200 and $30 a month to have access to the classes. What a ripoff.

#97 4 years ago
Quoted from vicjw66:

I looked into that and it was around $2200 and $30 a month to have access to the classes. What a ripoff.

Wow anything to get into your pocket.

#98 4 years ago

Only our dog Jimi gets presents. We like to buy stuff we like at auctions thruout the year so don't do the traditional exchange of gifts at xmas or birthdays. I like the once a year family get togethers though.

10
#99 4 years ago
Quoted from RWH:

Have to hear this one.

Ok, It's a bit of a long story, so I will condense it. I used to run Chat lines in the 90's. Talkers they were called. I ran several of them, but one I had for many years.. and Lisa was a member on it. We spoke all the time and became good friends. Eventually it turned into a long distance relationship. During this time, I was struggling in life. I had a computer repair business and a couple of other jobs as well. I lived with my slightly psychotic adopted dad. I was 23 and paid rent and half the bills.

Anyway, Mine and his relationship was deteriorating quickly and came to a head one night, while I was on the phone with her. She overheard everything. When I got back to the phone, she was already packing a bag. She had never left Canada before. NEVER traveled on her own.. It turns out, she had never even pumped her own gas, every where there was full service still. She is a little older than me, but not much. She drove 1800 miles over the next couple of days, in 100-110 degree weather, with no AC. She arrived at my house, July 4th at 8:30 pm. She was sick. Bad sick. She had what looked like a heat stroke. She had been pouring water on her head for two days while driving. Sheer determination!! Anyway, We saw the fireworks from my porch and then I gave her some meds and put her to bed. I mostly just watched her sleep that night. The next day she felt a lot better, we packed up my stuff and I drove to Canada with her.

We got married that December 27th and my life has been better ever since. If not for her, I am sure I would either be dead, or in jail by now.

#100 4 years ago

Now that's a story worth hearing. I thought there was more behind it than the obligatory "she rescued me line" which in most stories means we were behaving badly and they put us back on track. Your story truly was someone coming to rescue you from a toxic situation out of pure compassion for another; thanks for telling it and hope you two have many, many more years together. Merry Christmas.

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