Top 10 Christmas Pet Peeves

On December 8, 2013December 7, 2013 By R. PettyIn OpinionsLeave a comment

Before everyone thinks I’m a Scrooge, I’m going to try to do a two-part series for the holidays. The first is this post, and the second will be what I like about the holidays. Admittedly, the second will probably be shorter, but I’ll do my best to be fair. So, for all those people who don’t love the holiday, here’s my list:

1. Presents over good deeds – Christmas is supposed to be about giving, not getting. It’s not about getting upset because you didn’t get the perfect gift. How many people are donating time to shelters? How many people are adopting angels or giving money to charity. That is what the season is supposed to be about. It’s not about materialism – it’s a about giving all of yourself to make someone’s life better, even if only for a few weeks.

2. Traffic/driving – As soon as time changes, the city loses its mind. Nashvillians can’t drive on sunny days, much less when it’s dark. When the city goes out every night to a party or for shopping, traffic gets worse. People are rude too because where they need to be is more important. Right?

3. Shopping – We need to fight over a TV? A tablet? A PS4? No. Stores open on Thanksgiving day should be ashamed of themselves. Let employees be with their loved ones. People will shop no matter what, and we don’t have to do it in one day! We don’t have to fight or disrespect each other over gifts.

4. Facebook/Christmas Tree pics – This year has been especially bad with Christmas tree pics. As I scroll through my feed every day, I can’t help but think “Would you like a medal because you put up your tree? Congrats. You joined millions of people. They all look the same. No one cares.”

5. Buying for everyone – Yes, this is my fault. I feel obligated to buy for people I care about or appreciate. It’s the people who never talk to me and who don’t care about me who I have a problem with. It’s not that I don’t like them; it’s that I don’t feel I should have to spend my money on them because of tradition or obligation. If I opted out, I know what would happen…

6. Winter weather – This week, it was 75 degrees and two days later 32 with the threat of ice. Cold weather and dreariness makes people grumpy. People have to get out but don’t want to, so they are especially nasty and crazy if it rains/ices/sleets/snows.

7. Attitudes – I don’t care what people say, people are not nicer during Christmas. If anything, they’re more rude and impatient. I had a person ride my bumper and honk at me in a school zone Friday morning. I responded with slowing down and holding the bird out the window. That’s my response to your schedule; we all have things to do.

8. Putting up Christmas stuff before Halloween – If you walked into a store in October, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Halloween has two weeks of love, whereas Christmas had two months. I realize people buy more at Christmas, but if you read No. 1 you know that’s not the point of the holiday.

9. Christmas music – I worked in a grocery store for 10 years. I’ve heard enough Christmas music to last a lifetime. Unless it’s U2’s It’s Christmas Baby, Please Come Home, I’ll pass.

10. Perkiness – I get so much crap for not being perky during the holidays. Yes, I put in Mudvayne and Marilyn Manson to drown out Christmas music. No, I’m no more peppy than usual; I don’t need a holiday to be in a good mood. I don’t criticize people for being joyful and happy, so leave me alone and let me be me.

Remember to be a little nicer this week, and maybe we can stop the madness!

Off the Edge #2: Annoying Holiday Car Commercials

On December 26, 2012December 26, 2012 By James CastroIn Opinions, Random FunLeave a comment

Next week I’ll start the first of my legitimate Versus Mode! posts but since it’s just after Christmas I really wanted to get this one out while it was still relevant!

I’m sure we’ve all seen it, I’ll set the stage:

You’re watching TV and this soft music comes up. Some square-jawed guy walks through his overpriced house, by a Macy’s store-sized Christmas tree, and into a bedroom where he wakes his sleeping wife, who doesn’t have “I’ve been asleep hair or face.” He then leads her outside where, sitting in the perfectly snowy driveway, sits an Acura, Infinity, Lexus, or Mercedes with a ridiculous big bow on it. They celebrate, etc and voice over says something about a gift you both can cherish for years to come.

OK. I HATE these commercials… Truly. It’s pure commercialized fantasy and borders on absurdity. It could be that I don’t brush elbows with people in a high enough tax bracket that secretly buy their spouses cars for Christmas, but I’ve never heard of this happening for anyone. The logical person in me (who makes up 85% of my personality) has a few problems with this:

Who in the hell buys someone a $40-60,000 Christmas present?
How does one spouse spend that much money on the other without the other knowing about it?
I’d like to have been present for the conversations they have as they tried to figure out what the giftee spouse would like in a car…or did they care?
Where does one get car-sized bows and ribbons, how much do they cost, what do you do with it AFTER the car has been given as a gift?

I know, they’re just trying to sell cars, but the entire concept is so annoying to me, even as commercials go, I thought I’d rant about this one while the season was right!

Photographs below show the closest I’ve come to seeing a car wrapped up for someone. A friend and I went to Target in October and saw it sitting out there. I have no idea who the owner was but they have my pity…

It was definitely wrapped and decorated…but the owner was probably less than happy about it…

So here’s the fantasy:

Here’s the closest I’ve seen…

Next post is my Versus Mode Street Fighter II Reminisces!

Off the Top of My Head #7: Parental Christmas Cleverness

On December 19, 2012December 19, 2012 By James CastroIn Games, Random Fun2 Comments

Every family has holiday traditions that are unique. My family used to go for Chinese food every Thanksgiving and play Trivial Pursuit (the adults anyway) on Christmas.

Though we weren’t a rich family, I always credit my parents for doing whatever they had to do to make holidays as perfect as possible. My mom fought parents during the Cabbage Patch craze, called toy stores and had clerks acting as informants looking for me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Leatherhead” figure, and even bought an 11 year old a set of swords from a xeroxed mail-order catalog.

She also liked to have fun with our presents. She had a couple of sneaky-snooping kids who were home alone all day during Christmas and Summer Break (both my sister and I have summer birthdays) while she and my father worked. She knew we’d snoop around for our presents…and so she set about hiding them in creative places. She somehow managed to hide two bikes, a skateboard, and a scooter in the late 80s in our mid-sized condo. I still don’t know how she did that…

To this day I can say, though my presents were always around the house…I only ever had access to one, the swords. I was there when they were delivered, and I checked them out before she put them under her bed til my birthday. My favorite hidden present is from Christmas…circa 1992.

I was a Sega player. Since my mom got me that Sega Game Gear and I traded my NES for a Genesis, I loved Sega products, games, and franchises. That year I asked for a Sega CD. My mom played it cool with me and didn’t let on that I would get it. I remember searching everywhere for that thing. We set up our tree (we were using a little 4′ one at this point), laid out the crocheted tree skirt (which was made the the GIANT 6′ tree we used to have! and is still awesome…), put presents underneath, but nothing that looked like a Sega CD to me. I dug through the house, looked in closets, under beds…nowhere to be found.

Christmas morning I awoke to find extra presents in the pile under the tree, we went through them and…still no Sega CD. Eventually my mom, registering my disappointment, said “there’s one more. Look under the tree.” I did, confused, there was clearly nothing left… She said, “No UNDER the tree!” I lifted the heavy crocheted green tree-skirt and there, with the little Christmas tree standing directly on the massive dense box, was my Sega CD.

We still laugh about how my mom was so sneaky she once hid a HUGE present under the Christmas tree and I never knew about it until Christmas morning despite all my snooping…

So Merry Christmas to all the great, sneaky, fun parents out there. The ones that give real presents like memories like that…long after present wrapped in colored paper has seen its last use.

Story of the Month: Holiday Fun

On December 11, 2012December 11, 2012 By R. PettyIn Story of the MonthLeave a comment

I hate shopping. I am not the girl who finds boutiques, tries on clothes, and I order everything I can online. However, I love buying for people I care about, but the traffic, crowds, and general population are enough to keep me at home.

A few years ago, I had to go Christmas shopping, so my amazing friend and RevPub partner offered to keep me company. And so our shopping day tradition began.

We don’t shop on a weekend because that’s even more insane, so every year in December we take a Friday off and finish our Christmas shopping. We visit open-air malls and McKay’s, and keep the same schedule as if we were at work with a lunch break around noon. On these days, we have a great time and laugh until our sides hurt. So, for story of the month I bring you two little shorts from our shopping experiences.

Look at Me…

After several hours shopping, James and I were in the car on our way to another store. I had his phone and was playing with his camera. I wanted to take his picture, but of course, he would not smile on command. In a moment of silliness I said, “Looook at meeeee…” and he erupted into laughter. Some of my favorite pics are ones with someone laughing, and this one is definitely a peach:

Bullet Proof

A few years ago we were leaving a store, and James saw one of these:

A man with a baby in a baby carrier — Photo from: barnesandnoble.com

He turned and asked me if it was a bullet-proof vest. I replied that is was something people use to carry their babies. James, being his lovable self, said, “I got news for her. That baby’s not going to stop any bullets.”

We both almost went into the floor from laughing, and what made this moment even better was the new mother overheard him. She turned and gave him a dirty look, but only I saw her and I laughed even more. We continued our day and caused a little trouble, which made it even better.

These stories remind me to have fun. No matter how much you hate something, you can make the best of it and build lifelong memories. I will always remember the laughs, the stories, and the weird looks we get from people when we are just being ourselves. Sometimes being weird is necessary.

Happy Holidays and share your fun shopping stories below!

Story of the Month: A Surprise Dinner Guest

On November 13, 2012November 13, 2012 By R. PettyIn Story of the Month2 Comments

Well, the holiday season is upon us. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week, and I’ve already started shopping. Time flies when you’re having fun!

This month I want to share a story about a very special guest we had a few years ago. He was the highlight of our holiday and caused a lot of chaos and fun.

A Surprise Dinner Guest

It was Christmas Eve, and we had lots of family coming to the house for food and festivities. Our guests were about to arrive, so we opened the door only to find a large multicolored duck on our front porch.

We live in a highly residential neighborhood between several main roads. Our houses are about 15 feet apart, and there are rows and rows of houses in the neighborhood. Needless to say, ducks are not a common site, and the only wildlife you see around my house are domestic pets or squirrels. I could not believe a duck would choose to chill at our house of all the ones in the neighborhood.

At first I worried that he was sick or had a broken wing. We fed him, and he was a little nervous, but he never ran. He was still on our porch when the guests arrived; and then we had a problem. We had several kids who wanted to play with him, and one wanted to chase the duck around the yard. I yelled some sense into him, and everyone left the duck in peace.

The duck fluffed up next to the house and slept. Hours later he was still there, sleeping the night away. Late that night, I fed him once more and checked on him. He was still asleep in his warm spot, and I fell asleep wondering how we would take care of a duck. We had a dog and a small bird, and I did not have the heart to call animal control.

Christmas morning arrived, and our feathery friend was gone. I like to think he continued his journey at dawn, moving onto another house or he found his new home.

So, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for pets – past, present, and future. No matter the size or how long we have them, their unconditional love makes the darkest days seem a little brighter.

Feel free to share your weird and/or special pet stories below in the comments section!

Revenant Publications

Tag: Christmas