Wednesday

Oh God....not again.

The holiday are upon us and more than the tragedy that is the Black Friday shopping mess the thing that I hate the most is the family and friend juggling.  It's not that I hate any of my friends or family, quite the opposite, I love seeing them all.  The problem is getting to see them all in some sort of organized fashion that doesn't make me go mad.

If life was like a fancy car commercial, it would be as simple as a single quiet evening with the friends one day where we drink by a fire and laugh about being rich; followed by a picturesque family meal the next where we all meet in the driveway and admire each others newly leased luxury cars.  Boom, two days and done.  Life however is not a commercial and I drive a sensible vehicle simply designed but not made by Germans.

In real life it's never that simple.  Are all my friends going to be in town on the same days and all have the same night free?  No.  Are they all going to want to sit by the fire drinking wine?  No.  Hell, I don't want to sit by the fire drinking wine.  Wine gives me a headache.  I'm getting too old for the huge meeting of everyone at the bar like we used to.  It's too loud and chaotic to have any real conversation with anyone.  Plus for my non-drinking friends it's just rude to them.  Then there's the problem that they're all juggling multiple family visits as well and with only a few days in town time get's thin.  So you end up seeing who you can when you can and miss a few visits.  The reality is that's just what happens when you start getting older.

The next problem is juggling the families.  Being married with two sets of family in town and with siblings living in somewhat close driving distance it adds to the visitation options.  The sad thing is that there's never going to be enough time to visit everyone.  Then you're picking and choosing who to see and that's a little sad.

Then there's the worst problem that makes all the other problems possible.  Work.  Time off for the holidays gets less and less each year.  If the world was like a Norman Rockwell painting we'd all put the closed signs in the window for a few days and have all the time in the world to enjoy our holidays.  These days, most Americans are at the mercy of their corporate overlords that want to squeeze every holiday dollar possible.  Stores stay open as late as possible for the 'last minute' shoppers and then open back up as early as possible for super-sales to get rid of the crap that didn't sell.  So the amount of time off to spend with friends continues to shrink.

I like the holidays, it makes the onset of winter easier and gives you excuses to have a little more fun than usual.  It would be nice however if there was just a little more time to enjoy them.  Quiet time with those important to you is being replaced by shopping sprees or working those shopping sprees.  Everyone's losing out, shopper and worker alike.  I hate having to ration time like it's water and I'm stuck in the desert.  Maybe I'll start a 'secret' holiday in May, when the weather's nicer and it's easier to get time off.  No big meals requiring grocery store trips, no presents and no stress.  Relaxmas.  I like it.