This Grinch hates......
This Grinch hates:
The bell ringers
The pervasive artificial cinnamon smell
Jingle fucking bells.
And snow.
Oh don't be dour, ladies. :haha:
"O come all ye faithful" and "hark the herald"
Bad Grinch, cheer up.
[VIMEO]14870986[/VIMEO]
I like lights.
I just hate the bell ringers and the cinnamon. Dana, Limey, you are fortunate -unless the bell ringers have made it to the UK now. They stand outside every grocery and large store -every one- and continuously jangle a hangover-reminiscent tinny bell trying to extort cash from people who hope in vain for them to quiet for just a second. You can hear the stupid things for miles, There is no way to pick up a gallon of milk without hearing them. I think maybe I should market elf-ear-defenders so we can ignore them without appearing to be unseasonal. Seasonal tinitus. They're not doing the most good, they're being the most fucking irritating and successfully putting all feelings of goodwill on my back burner.
The biggest local grocery store here has imposed a limit on the bells this year. The bells can only ring for 6 days before Christmas. And only during certain hours.
Console yourself with it's the Salvation Army, which is one of, if not the, most efficient charities. If you're concerned about impressing strangers, ink jet up some twenties, and stuff them with great flourish.
The biggest local grocery store here has imposed a limit on the bells this year. The bells can only ring for 6 days before Christmas. And only during certain hours.
Well done that store. I'd probably be more receptive if they just revved an engine or ran a washing machine on a spin cycle. Anything but the bells, the bells.....
So, all in agreement on the fake cinnamon, then? :lol:
Agreement on the fake cinnamon.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
"Holiday tree" bullshit. It's a Christmas tree, get over it.
I've been a Salvation Army bell ringer before, it's a very rewarding experience. You meet some great people too.
Well done that store. I'd probably be more receptive if they just revved an engine or ran a washing machine on a spin cycle. Anything but the bells, the bells.....
So, all in agreement on the fake cinnamon, then? :lol:
So, it's the tintinnabulation of the ringing of the bells that you find unpleasant, no? Is it because the gush of euphony voluminously wells? Is it the smells? Is it the world of merriment their melody foretells?
Who doesn't like cinnamon? :p:
All you need to say to appreciate the SA is "Katrina"
'scuse me, this is not a bitch about the bloody SA, it's about the damn bells, can we please get the kvetching back on track. What doesn't the Grinch in you like?
OK... Hallmark
Oh, and the photocopied mass mailings of "our family this past year"
Family christmas pictures where the kids are supposed to be in costume of the country of the family's origin.
I was at my younger brother's house and my brother and sis-in-law were talking with a friend about a christmas picture of these people they all know, with the kids in lederhosen. I figure the family hails from up around the Minster area (The Great White North) because it's populated heavily with german catholics.
Putting these poor kids in lederhosen. Ugh. So the friend was telling my brother and sis-in-law that they should dress up their kids like little leprechauns (sis-in-law the epitome of irish: from looks to name) and they could all have little itty bitty pipes hanging out of their mouths.
They're always after me lucky charms.
This would have been funnier with sound: my Irish accent is to die for. No really, you'd die if you heard it. From shame. For me. :blush:
Well done that store. I'd probably be more receptive if they just revved an engine or ran a washing machine on a spin cycle. Anything but the bells, the bells.....
Oh yeah.
So, all in agreement on the fake cinnamon, then? :lol:
All artificial scents. I can't stand to walk past a bath and body store in the mall.
Who doesn't like cinnamon? :p:
Hate the smell of fake cinnamon.
Love the smell of Mrs. Z's baking with real cinnamon.
All artificial scents. I can't stand to walk past a bath and body store in the mall.
Oh ugh. Scents are often a problem for me too (asthma). I sell gift gards as a fundraiser for the school. A few years ago around this time I opened up the delivery packet and couldn't breathe because Bath and Body had decided to make their gift cards scented. Candy cane and cinnamon :vomitblu: Even the office staff who are normally into that sort of thing complained about the stink.
also agree with Hallmark and brag-and-gag letters. Find those easier to avoid, though.....
I learned a new word today: "brag-and-gag letters" :D
heehee -I got that from a Brit Expats board from a Brit married to an American -she was bemused by them, he shared the name with her....
....and then she sent us one a few years later and I have a horrible feeling it wasn't meant to be ironic...
Fuck the bells
Abso fuck the fake aromas
Not at all keen on rocking, c&w, or muzak versions of christmas songs. Have minimal tolerance for piped music of any sort.
fake cheer.
I approve of forcing dogs to wear humiliating costumes. Especially if they look hilarious in them.
All the brag-and-gag letters we get (which isn't many) are digital. Way better than wasting postage.
Candle stores. Ugh. My nose feels raped after going in one of those stores.
Office Parties. Seriously, why?
Is it true there's no alcohol at office parties here?
ALL of the xmas music. Most espescially when I'm in a store, or when I'm on hold with a place and they think it'll put me in a better mood to have xmas music playing.
All of the people who insist xmas is about christ, no...its about spending money on other people and getting money spent on you. Its a stolen holiday anyway (back me up pagans).
All of the people who get pissed about it being called a "holiday" tree, or "winter" break instead of xmas. This season not about christ for most people, so stop pretending
My family making a jesus birthday cake, and then singing happy birthday to jesus
All of my favorite shows having to run a knockoff A Christmas Carol or It's A Wonderful Life
All the weight I gain from eating desserts
I approve of forcing dogs to wear humiliating costumes. Especially if they look hilarious in them.
Hmm, I might do this. I was just gonna go with a cute tee though...
Is it true there's no alcohol at office parties here?
At my old job we had happy hours about once a term (not actually in the office, but in the faculty lounge.) There was wine.
But if you really want alcohol at an office party, you gotta know who to go to. The IT department always set me up very nicely. :)
None of the above :santa:
But I must admit one of my perennial niggles is more niggly at Christmas. Pointless Americanisms.
I resent the Coca-Cola "Holidays are coming" advert. No. A holiday is what you go on in the summer, Christmas is not a holiday in this country. Make a different advert according to my culture. Especially given Coca-Cola is a summer drink anyway - who has extra room in their fridge once the turkey and cheeseboard are in there...?
Candy canes are not part of our tradition. We don't even use the word candy. Stop it.
Father Christmas not Santa Claus. The one acceptable use is Secret Santa, as you can't get the pleasing alliteration otherwise.
Coca-cola is a summer drink? Argh!
What season is beer?
Beer is summer too.
As is Pimms.
Christmas is wine and whisky (and wild, wild women!) and liqueurs.
Of course all of these really are all year round.
It's just like my rule about no cold toppings on hot potatoes (apart from cheese) and assigning genders to numbers.
I resent the Coca-Cola "Holidays are coming" advert. No. A holiday is what you go on in the summer, Christmas is not a holiday in this country. Make a different advert according to my culture.
Aww that's cute, you want a huge corporation to adjust it's marketing for every culture on the planet. Adorable.
Oh crikey, yes!
And hey - McDonalds does it, as do most international lagers :)
It's not an anti-American issue, I'm parochial on a global scale. I also resent dubbed ads from Continental Europe ie cars with steering wheels on the wrong side, obviously foreign cityscapes etc.
If you want my money, appeal to me as a consumer.
Aww that's cute, you want a huge corporation to adjust it's marketing for every culture on the planet. Adorable.
Isn't that what marketing folks are paid to do? Like Coca-cola people sit around a table and say "Gee, I'd love to target marketing to other countries, but we just can't afford it"?
Give them Father Christmas, damn you. Do it! :lol:
Gee, I thought we drove on the right side of the road,
and the Brits drove on the left.
Do we need to change over to be PC ?
Gee, I thought we drove on the right side of the road,
and the Brits drove on the left.
Do we need to change over to be PC ?
When in Rome...
Adjust. Adapt. Change.
It's not a difficult concept. Us Merkins think we have everything right. Not by a long shot.
Romans drive on the wrong side of the road too.
And don't use their pedestrian crossings unless you are following a Nun (don't worry - there are plenty, and about the only way to assure a safe crossing!)
:)
Santa Claus has been in fairly common currency over here for a good while now Sundae. Granted, Father Christmas is more usual; but 'Santa' and 'Santa's elves' etc aren't so new.
Also, in fairness: school breaks up for the Christmas Holidays. I don't think 'the holidays are coming' is particularly American. Yes, a holiday is something we go on, as an American goes on a vacation: but we've also retained both the original meaning of a particular holy day and the newer meaning of time off work/school. Though, the global-corporate sensibility of referring to it in faith-neutral, or inter-faith terms I'll give you.
Romans drive on the wrong side of the road too.
And don't use their pedestrian crossings unless you are following a Nun (don't worry - there are plenty, and about the only way to assure a safe crossing!)
:)
Well chariots are harder to steer. :p:
Santa Claus has been in fairly common currency over here for a good while now Sundae. Granted, Father Christmas is more usual; but 'Santa' and 'Santa's elves' etc aren't so new.
No. Father Christmas. Ner.
Also, in fairness: school breaks up for the Christmas Holidays. I don't think 'the holidays are coming' is particularly American. Yes, a holiday is something we go on, as an American goes on a vacation: but we've also retained both the original meaning of a particular holy day and the newer meaning of time off work/school. Though, the global-corporate sensibility of referring to it in faith-neutral, or inter-faith terms I'll give you.
And no. We always called the Christmas break the Christmas break. So ner ner ner.
Hang on, why am I being called on my Grinchiness when other people's have been assimilated?
I LOVE a bit of Wizzard,
Step Into Christmas and Slade.
Okay, I take back any cultural stepping on toes-ness [COLOR="White"](not really)[/COLOR] and offer up home made mince pies and mulled wine. The first is always too much badly cooked slightly grubby pastry and the second has has all the goodness - aka alcohol - heated out of it.
A Captian of the SA swindled my cousins out of their inheritance, so, family feud.
yebbut they'd've spent it on women and weed.....
Is it true there's no alcohol at office parties here?
When I worked for GE we had tremendous benders for any an all office parties until the lawyers got into the mix. Pete's company used to have unlimited open bar (free booze) but that got expensive and there were occasional behavior issues so they are cash bar. The crew voted for the party for my work to be at a school so no booze.
I use to work for a company that celebrated beer:30 every Friday afternoon. In the office. For some it was vodka:30. You can imagine what the Christmas party was like!
Before the recession, my law firm always had a huge Christmas luncheon and party hosted in a local hotel ballroom. An amazing spread and open bar. From about noon to 4, and then one of the partners would open a tab at a nearby bar into the wee hours of the morning and we would take over the bar. When I was younger, I'd be there for the whole thing and then off to the bar all night. For the more recent ones, I'd go grab some shrimp cocktail and carved turkey and then go home to the wife before the kids would get home from school.
Every few years, someone would be in trouble the next day for what they did the night before.
Since the recession, they have some pies in the cafeteria, and I'll go get a slice of pecan pie. Yes. I like pecans on my pie.
OK, we have discovered the Brit equivalent to the brag-and-gag letter: the whinge-and-cringe email/phone call. Could you please pack it in, relatives who we never hear from the rest of the year. We don't want to hear how fucking awful it was for you and how much better we have it.....or the intricate details of your latest home improvement scheme gone unbearably wrong. you say you wonder why we left.....? :lol:
Every few years, someone would be in trouble the next day for what they did the night before.
One of the best business traditions the Japanese have is when everyone goes out together after work.
Lots of alcohol may be consumed and lots of things get said about others, including the bosses.
The nice thing about their tradition next morning is no one, including the bosses, acknowledges or
remembers any thing that was said the night before.
Thats what it was like when I worked for the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati...usually after wrapping up a big ass banquet. They also threw a big Xmas party for us managers in the ballroom, too. Hangovers were expected the next day.
I work at a hotel, and we have our "christmas party" the second week of Jan. The ballrooms are just WAYYYYY to busy before Christmas. This year I think the banquets department is hosting 39 Chritsmas parties in 28 days, not including regular meetings, and the events hosted in the Bar and the Restaurant. At least 6 of those events are 475+ people. The Rotary Dream Auction for example was 483 people, 4 course Served meal. Served in an hour! The Banquests team rocks!
At our staff party there is booze. 2 free drinks, then $3.50 each after that.
As for pet peeves of the season: fake scents, thats just a headache waiting to happen.
I hate cranky clerks. You know its a busy season, you know people will be bitchy. I am in the customer service industry and I know I will get miserable people, but I try very hard not to let it affect my day. Its not fair to ruin someone elses shopping because the person half an hour ago needed to get laid, have a nap, have a drink, or simple was an ass. Just smile and be freindly.. its not that hard, even if you have to fake it a little.