# Let the holiday mini rants begin **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501 "2009-11-22T05:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/101 "2009-11-26T18:31:52Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Let me get things started by saying I never, ever need to see another commercial with Santa Claus in it. And even more than I don’t need that, I don’t need to see any commercials where Santa is suddenly buying his presents at a department store or Best Buy or whatever. No more cutesy ads where elves are lined up at a soup kitchen or Santa is at the beach because, you know what? Now he just gets all of his presents at Kay goddamned jewelers. It’s been done. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and realize that all the Santa commercials have been done. When the extremely kickable pigtailed girl said “I gave him CHEESE!” the genre was officially dead and ready for cremation. Please put the festering corpse of the concept into the incinerator, and now. > > And while we’re at it, please, please, please stop with the shitty Christmas comedies. I don’t need to see Owen Wilson or Jason Segal as a goddamned elf this year, not even in a trailer. Just stop it. Seriously, people, stop SEEING shitty Christmas movies or they will keep making them. > > Oh, and stop making crappy novelty “Can you believe who made a Christmas album” Christmas albums. No, I don’t think it’s brilliant that It’s a Slayer Christmas can now be downloaded from iTunes. Just because some washed up rock star decided to turn a quick buck by cranking out some Xmas classics doesn’t make it a must-have-this-Christmas. This includes Bob Dylan. Also, if you have any love for music and humanity, and are a radio station, stop playing that Bruce Springsteen version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” > > And let me lodge a complaint about anybody who gets upset because somebody does, or does not, wish them a Merry Christmas. If you can’t stand bland seasonal pleasantries, just stay home from Halloween through Groundhog’s Day. And if you can’t stand to get offered a more generic and inclusive Happy Holidays, then I hope you get nothing but coal and divorce papers this holiday. And maybe a dose of Anthrax. Nobody owes you a goddamned Merry Christmas. > > There are much, much worse things in our world to be upset about. Like commercials with Santa Claus using his iPhone to order all of his presents from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and deliver with UPS. Or that inevitable movie where Will Arnett plays an incompetent burglar who shanghais Santa on Christmas Eve and learns the true meaning of Christmas. I’m with you! Boycott Black Friday!!! And no matter how much your kids/grandkids cry, don’t let 'em see any “NEW Holiday Tradition” type cartoons, or the old “Holly Jolly” awful claymation either. Take 'em out to see Xmas lights instead. Gas might not be under $3 much longer, but that cretinous crap will never die. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/102 "2009-11-26T22:47:28Z")
I don’t have a clue in the world what to get my dad and his SO. They’re retired and relatively wealthy and are always complaining that their house is full of stuff. Yet dad wants to keep playing this stupid Christmas game where we exchange gifts by shopping off one another’s Amazon wish lists. But then he can’t be bothered to do this by Dec 25th and so I get my presents in February or March, several months later than if I’d just bought them myself when I wanted them. And this is the holiday tradition dad wants. Mom, on the other hand, will start pressuring me to come visit her even though I’ve firmly established over the last fifteen years that I don’t like taking off work and traveling at that time of year, and that my employers greatly appreciate my willingness to work while my coworkers are on vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/103 "2009-11-26T22:53:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > OK, **IF** they are going to be open, then I agree, Double-time. I worked for a movie theater for a couple of years…and the managers always wanted EVERYONE working on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other major holidays. Everyone worked at least one shift on those days. At the time, and possibly this is still in effect, theaters didn’t have to pay overtime, they were exempt from overtime pay laws. And I’m sure that the retail stores don’t pay their clerks any overtime if at all possible. The thing is, most of those stores really don’t need to be open on Thanksgiving day, and it really sucks to be a minimum wage slave and have to go in on a day when most of your relatives are actually around and willing to visit. I don’t think that people actually spend MORE if they have the opportunity to shop during Thanksgiving day, they spend about the same. If retailers really wanted to boost sales, they should campaign to move Thanksgiving up to the second or third Thursday in November. > [@zenith](#): > > I’m with you! Boycott Black Friday!!! And no matter how much your kids/grandkids cry, don’t let 'em see any “NEW Holiday Tradition” type cartoons, or the old “Holly Jolly” awful claymation either. > Take 'em out to see Xmas lights instead. Gas might not be under $3 much longer, but that cretinous crap will never die. As I said just a few posts ago, I don’t buy non-perishables for about six weeks. I’ve done mostly catalog shopping for the gifts I plan to give, and I won’t set foot in a store unless it’s actually either urgent or an emergency shopping situation. I know that Christmas comes around every year, and at the same time every year, so I plan around it. I WILL buy wrapping paper and ribbon during the first week in January…and I’ll try to buy the stuff that can be used for any occasion. OK, call me cheap. My wallet and I don’t mind being called cheap, especially for stuff that’s really trivial. Oh, and I hit the fabric stores after January 2, as well…I’ve bought remnants of Christmas themed fabrics and made gift bags or covered folding cardboard boxes with that fabric, and the bags and boxes get carefully stored away and re-used for years. Can’t say that I like going out to see the lights very much, though I will enjoy them when I’m traveling from one place to another. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/104 "2009-11-27T04:24:59Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > If retailers really wanted to boost sales, they should campaign to move Thanksgiving up to the second or third Thursday in November. [Not really up to speed on your _Straight Dope_ lore?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/434/is-it-true-thanksgiving-was-invented-by-the-editor-of-em-harpers-bazaar-em) > [@Cecil](#): > > Thanksgiving continued to be proclaimed annually by the president this way until 1939, when Franklin Roosevelt blithely declared that Thanksgiving that year was going to take place on the third Thursday of November. Crass commercialism was the chief consideration–FDR hoped to woo retailers, who complained that they needed more time to “make proper provision for the Christmas rush” and incidentally cram in a few more shopping days. > > FDR’s move outraged Republicans and quite a few football coaches throughout the country, who claimed that not only was FDR trampling on sacred national traditions, he was screwing up the bowl game schedule. For two years, people celebrated Thanksgiving on one of two different days, depending on their political inclinations. In 1941, however, Congress got into the act by officially declaring that Thanksgiving would thenceforward fall on the fourth Thursday of November. > > Two weeks later FDR declared World War II. And you thought NIXON was a sore loser. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/105 "2009-11-27T04:46:58Z")
They called it “Franksgiving.” My father in law (who is 87) was talking about it tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/106 "2009-11-27T11:24:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > [Not really up to speed on your _Straight Dope_ lore?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/434/is-it-true-thanksgiving-was-invented-by-the-editor-of-em-harpers-bazaar-em) Some of the columns I can readily remember. This one slipped my mind. Gimme a break, that one is nearly a quarter of a century old! And I think that the Republicans might warm up to the idea a bit now. The football coaches would be delighted, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/107 "2009-11-27T13:18:32Z")
To be clear, “Franksgiving” is now the regular Thanksgiving. Second-to-last Thursday in November instead of last Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/108 "2009-11-27T13:19:45Z")
“Franksgiving” was a bust for more reasons than outraging tradition. The original point of moving up the holiday was that in '39, Thanksgiving was going to fall so late as to limit Xmas shopping days to 20 or so. Roosevelt hoped to boost the economy by providing more shopping days. But the retail figures for the next couple of years showed that people weren’t spending any more than they had when Thanksgiving fell later in November. So there was no reason not to go back to the old way of setting the date. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/109 "2009-11-27T14:23:11Z")
At this point I’m not sure there’s any reason to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/110 "2009-11-27T17:33:45Z")
> [@](#): > > The original point of moving up the holiday was that in '39, Thanksgiving was going to fall so late as to limit Xmas shopping days to 20 or so. Roosevelt hoped to boost the economy by providing more shopping days. But the retail figures for the next couple of years showed that people weren’t spending any more than they had when Thanksgiving fell later in November. Heh. When I read that, it took me a couple of seconds to remember Blue Laws (laws which prohibited selling anything but food on Sundays). Man, I remember the hassle of grocery shopping on Sunday…I’d have to think twice about buying anything, in case it wasn’t eligible to be sold. Come to think of it, most of the grocery stores were closed on Sunday, too, it was mostly just convenience stores that were open. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/111 "2009-11-27T18:33:43Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Please, please, please don’t tell me I “should” celebrate Christmas. I don’t have any kind of anger against people who do, I will happily attend Christmas parties and give gifts (I love parties and gifts!), I will smile and say thanks when a stranger wishes me a “Merry Christmas”, but when it comes up that I don’t celebrate Christmas on my own, the polite thing to do is to say “oh, okay” and let it go. Not to give me the third degree, not to act like I’ve just said I enjoy killing puppies in my spare time, and not to tell me about how Christmas is actually an “American holiday” and that in your opinion, Jews should therefore celebrate Christmas too. > > IT’S NOT YOUR BUSINESS. STFU. ^ This. Although I’m not Jewish, I’m Pagan, but I get the same treatment. Please, enjoy _your_ holiday. And let me enjoy _mine_. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/112 "2009-11-27T18:41:21Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > Holy crap. Is everyone on the SDMB disabled? \*::: jumps up and down waving hand in the air ::: \* Oh! Oh! Me! I’m not disabled! > [@](#): > > How does that excuse being a passive-aggresive jerk IRL? It doesn’t. By the way - what’s your excuse, seeing as last I heard you weren’t among the disabled either? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/113 "2009-11-27T19:18:41Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > To be clear, “Franksgiving” is now the regular Thanksgiving. Second-to-last Thursday in November instead of last Thursday. 😕 This year, November 26 was the last (fourth) Thursday in the month. Actual clarity means that Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November (even if a given November happens to have five Thursdays). It’s only the next-to-last if November 1 falls on a Wednesday or a Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/114 "2009-11-27T19:21:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > \*::: jumps up and down waving hand in the air ::: \* Oh! Oh! Me! I’m not disabled! > > > [@](#): > > > > How does that excuse being a passive-aggresive jerk IRL? > > It doesn’t. By the way - what’s your excuse, seeing as last I heard you weren’t among the disabled either? She’s _PASSIVE_? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/115 "2009-11-27T19:31:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > 😕 This year, November 26 was the last (fourth) Thursday in the month. Actual clarity means that Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November (even if a given November happens to have five Thursdays). It’s only the next-to-last if November 1 falls on a Wednesday or a Thursday. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/116 "2009-11-27T19:32:49Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > To be clear, “Franksgiving” is now the regular Thanksgiving. Second-to-last Thursday in November instead of last Thursday. First sentence correct, second not. It’s the fourth Thursday in November, regardless of whether there is a fifth. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/117 "2009-11-27T19:40:14Z")
Yes, that was just pointed out. Sorry for my carelessness. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/118 "2009-11-27T20:00:50Z")
> [@villa](#): > > The way I get through that is by working, then having Chinese food and going to a movie In other words, you celebrate Christmas by becoming Jewish for a day. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/119 "2009-11-27T23:56:36Z")
I get around the holidays with one film: Bad Santa uncut version. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/120 "2009-11-28T00:27:56Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > \*::: jumps up and down waving hand in the air ::: \* Oh! Oh! Me! I’m not disabled! But you’re on the public dole, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501.md?page=7)