The Humbug in Christmas Cheer

The Humbug in                                         Christmas Cheer

The anticipation is as electrically
palpable as it is contagious, beginning
with the onset of winter weather and
people feverishly setting up their
Christmas decorations, festooning light
sets over their houses, the trees on their
property, frantically shopping and baking
in excited preparation for the cardinal
holiday of the year, a celebration of
light, and song and goodwill toward all.
As Christmas Eve nears, people amble
in urban parks and woodlands, transfixed
with nature's winter gift freshly fallen
transforming the ordinary into a white
wonderland where greeting others with
traditional shouts of !Merry Christmas!
comes readily in heartfelt affection for
life and all who inhabit this earthly sphere.
Beyond the public parks and the urban
forest there are vast multitudes of shops
and consumer emporiums for whom this
most especial holiday gifts with the
imperative of commerce hawking its
irresistible wares. And there, in packed
shopping centres and parking lots, ill
will raises its miserable head, altering
attitudes in a display of disagreeableness
a sullen wretchedness of taut facial
expressions and impatient rage as sad
societal pressures to conform to the values
of a community steeped in a culture of
acquisition sidesteps Christmas cheer.