All around me, holiday season is in full swing. People are playing Christmas music, decorating their dorms, purchasing those Christmas trinkets you see when you first walk into Target, wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and planning all their Secret Santa gifts.
However, I just don’t get it. I would never consider myself some sort of modern college-going Scrooge, but I never actually join in the festivities.
Christmas just isn’t a part of my family’s culture. My parents came here from India when they were in their 20s and even though they would do the whole presents thing when I was little, it never meant the same thing that it meant to most people. Growing up, they didn’t celebrate Christmas so it just doesn’t have the same importance to them as it does to most people here.
As long as I can remember knowing about Santa Claus, that memory has been accompanied by the knowledge that he is not real and that I had skipped the childhood belief in him.
So today, when people get all hyped for ugly Christmas sweaters and Christmas socks, I couldn’t really care less. I don’t get offended when people talk about it or get excited for it just because it’s not a part of my traditions. But, I don’t ever get as excited as they do. So the holidays are always going to be this weird time when I just get a break from school and a few days of free time to do whatever I want.
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Some people might say that I should appreciate the free time because for them, celebrating the holidays always comes with the stress of finding presents for everyone and having awkward interactions with annoying relatives. But, from an outsider’s perspective, all that stress and awkwardness is part of the charm of the season. Without it, things would be pretty empty.
However, I don’t like it when people ask why I don’t celebrate the holidays. I especially despise when someone says “do you mind my asking why not?” Yes, I do mind, because my traditions or lack of celebrating the same traditions as you are none of your business. I have no problem with the actual holiday itself, it’s the prying nature of such inquiries that I do not appreciate.
People seem to ask with the expectation of getting a response relating some Christmas horror tale, and they want to be entertained by it, feeling sorry for me because I’m missing out on something grand and spectacular because everyone else celebrates it.
I don’t feel sorry for myself, this is just something that hasn’t been a part of my childhood and my life and that’s just the way things are. There’s nothing to be pitied because I’m not part of everyone else’s traditions, I see it as just a fact that I don’t celebrate the holidays and have no strong connections to them.
I don’t see myself ever celebrating the holidays, even when I’m a real adult and have my own family. Since they haven’t been a part of my childhood growing up, I wouldn’t even know where to start getting in the festive spirit.
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