# Black Christmas **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314 "2011-12-24T23:03:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/1 "2011-12-24T23:03:26Z")
In recognition of everyone who is also going to have a dreadful day, I salute you. ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/2 "2011-12-24T23:17:05Z")
Wow–I sure hope your day gets better. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/3 "2011-12-25T00:16:09Z")
Why have you chosen to make Christmas a dreadful day? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/4 "2011-12-25T00:23:24Z")
Aw, Black Christmas is OK. However, [Black Easter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Easter) is another story… ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/5 "2011-12-25T15:27:53Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Why have you chosen to make Christmas a dreadful day? I don’t think choice has anything to do with it. For some folks, Christmas isn’t as happy as it once was and that’s what makes it a dreadful day. It’s a painful reminder of happier times. ☹ I wish that didn’t have to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/6 "2011-12-25T15:41:27Z")
Why do you feel the need to play the race card? mmm ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/7 "2011-12-25T16:15:33Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > I don’t think choice has anything to do with it. For some folks, Christmas isn’t as happy as it once was and that’s what makes it a dreadful day. It’s a painful reminder of happier times. ☹ > > I wish that didn’t have to be the case. True, and we don’t know **SunSandSuffering’s** situation. I hope there’s at least a single ray of sunshine and your day isn’t 100 percent dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/8 "2011-12-25T16:51:55Z")
Bad things happen sometimes. If it happens to be December 25th, it can be something that hangs over you every Christmas. When I was a kid, my grandmother died on Christmas, which also happens to be my sister’s birthday. Back then, my family considered itself Jewish. We spoke to a Rabbi about how to handle the mixed emotions, and he suggested that we commemorate the death based on the Hebrew calendar. Lacking that…I can easily understand how someone would have a bad Christmas. To the OP, if it’s anything like the type of situation I described: Best thoughts as you go through whatever causes you pain today…and tomorrow will come soon enough. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/9 "2011-12-25T17:01:16Z")
Christmas 2009: I had to put a dear old Rottweiler to sleep Christmas Eve because she had bone cancer and it wasn’t looking good. Christmas 2010: A very good friend of mine passed away after fighting ovarian cancer for 2 1/2 years, two days before Christmas. So…yeah. I retract my “choice statement” above. These events didn’t make the entire day dreadful, but they sure cast a pall over everything. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/10 "2011-12-27T14:12:16Z")
I took the o.p. to mean the Christmas hell that comes around every year where people have to cook huge, complicated meals for large numbers of family that they don’t really like, but because its Christmas have to pretend to be nice to them. Where a large number of people are crammed together in a house thats really too small, with people that they don’t really like enough to bother seeing during the rest of the year, where people are bored, some are resentful because they didn’t like their presents, and its all fuelled by people drinking so as not to be seen as party poopers. For some, probably many families, Christmas is a boring and stressful time. ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/11 "2011-12-27T14:50:00Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I took the o.p. to mean the Christmas hell that comes around every year where people have to cook huge, complicated meals for large numbers of family that they don’t really like, but because its Christmas have to pretend to be nice to them. > > Where a large number of people are crammed together in a house thats really too small, with people that they don’t really like enough to bother seeing during the rest of the year, where people are bored, some are resentful because they didn’t like their presents, and its all fuelled by people drinking so as not to be seen as party poopers. > > For some, probably many families, Christmas is a boring and stressful time. If it’s a secular Christmas, it’s a joyless event. ☹ It shouldn’t be a chore or an ordeal. It shouldn’t be just another holiday. The Christmas season is supposed to be special. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/12 "2011-12-27T17:44:44Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > If it’s a secular Christmas, it’s a joyless event. ☹ > > It shouldn’t be a chore or an ordeal. It shouldn’t be just another holiday. The Christmas season is supposed to be special. That’s just it: the secular baggage that’s built up around Christmas (spending tons of money on gifts, planning big parties, decorating the house with Christmas trees and other crap) is stressful, not enjoyable. Many people tend to find the bad outweighing the good. ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/13 "2011-12-27T17:55:48Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > That’s just it: the secular baggage that’s built up around Christmas (spending tons of money on gifts, planning big parties, decorating the house with Christmas trees and other crap) is stressful, not enjoyable. Many people tend to find the bad outweighing the good. The good can outweight the bad sometimes, sometimes by far. ☹ There is always a spike in suicides around Dec. 25. I wish people could be happier over the holidays, even if they don’t believe in Jesus. Especially if they don’t believe in Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/14 "2011-12-27T19:20:50Z")
And I thought this thread was about [the film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Christmas_(1974_film)). Darn. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/15 "2011-12-29T05:09:54Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > In recognition of everyone who is also going to have a dreadful day, I salute you. Oh, come ON. I assumed by now you’d have repented of the vague drive-by. C’mon, show a little compassion. You’ve got a lot of people here worried about your sanity, your physical well-being, and those tube socks you got instead of the SmartWool you asked for … ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/16 "2011-12-29T05:14:55Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > If it’s a secular Christmas, it’s a joyless event. ☹ Not true. People can enjoy being with their families without bringing religion into it. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/17 "2011-12-29T15:34:33Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > That’s just it: the secular baggage that’s built up around Christmas (spending tons of money on gifts, planning big parties, decorating the house with Christmas trees and other crap) is stressful, not enjoyable. Many people tend to find the bad outweighing the good. This is exactly how I feel. I haven’t had “Christmas” in my heart for years. I would just go through the motions before, but this year I couldn’t even be arsed to bring out the boxes of decorations. Some people were all like, “This is your first Christmas as a married couple! It’s SPECIAL!” but I was still “meh”. Christmas for me is nothing but stress and guilt. Maybe next year… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/18 "2011-12-30T04:11:03Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > If it’s a secular Christmas, it’s a joyless event. ☹ > > It shouldn’t be a chore or an ordeal. It shouldn’t be just another holiday. The Christmas season is supposed to be special. Did I wander into a Chick tract? Or is Kirk Cameron posting here and I didn’t notice before? Our Lutheran (High Church Turned Up To 11) family had a joyful, spiritual Christmas. Very…um… non-secular. But we also visited with some friends who every year throw the biggest, warmest Holiday party I’ve ever seen. Score: The Secular Humanists narrowly out-joyed the Christians. I think the key is to keep the stress and gulit down, by saying no to family and “obligations” (we cut waaay back on hand-made presents and cookies and overly-ambitious cards). ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/19 "2011-12-30T04:12:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Did I wander into a Chick tract? Or is Kirk Cameron posting here and I didn’t notice before? > > Our Lutheran (High Church Turned Up To 11) family had a joyful, spiritual Christmas. Very…um… non-secular. > > But we also visited with some friends who every year throw the biggest, warmest Holiday party I’ve ever seen. > > Score: The Secular Humanists narrowly out-joyed the Christians. > I think the key is to keep the stress and gulit down, by saying no to family and “obligations” (we cut waaay back on hand-made presents and cookies and overly-ambitious cards). A joy competion, eh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314/20 "2012-01-01T04:23:42Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > A joy competion, eh? 😃 Yeah, and just a couple more warmed cockles would’ve put us over the top. (If it weren’t for those meddling kids and that dog, victory would’ve been ours!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-christmas/607314.md?page=2)