Don't you miss those days when Christmas meant new clothes, new toys and pamasko from ninongs and ninangs? It meant seeing your cousins and playing and Christmas parties with games and goodies. But why is it that as we grow older Christmas only brings headache and heartache?
First off, the goddamn traffic is so thick and heavy you wonder how all these people manage to get anywhere at all. On the length of EDSA there are about a dozen malls or so. Yeah, go ahead and count. This means there are some 10 million people or so are expected to be milling around and doing their shopping pretty much around a 9 kilometer circumference. And of course these people will need to drive their cars, ride taxis and other public utility vehicles to get to their destination, hence the goddamn traffic. This time of year, drivers are especially lawless. To fuck with basic road courtesy, we gotta finish shopping!
This is also the season for the "little marked white envelope." They creep up and pounce on you from unexpected places and circumstances. People you have never seen in your life hand you the envelope and wait for the sacred mana that is the peso bill to be delivered from your unsuspecting pocket. "Kami po yung basurero n'yo." Fucking hell you are, they've already come by! "Meri Krismas Mam! Donation lang po sa simbahan." This church is aaaall the way from Mandaluyong. Or, the ambush carolers who hand you the envelope just before they harangue you with their varied versions of the same ol' shitty carols.
Our pockets suffer the most during this season, it bleeds. We not only have to shop for (very much expected) gifts for lovers, friends, family and godchildren, but we must choose wisely or else said gifts may end up in someone else's hands due to "recycling." You do it and I do it. But I guess, what we don't know won't hurt us. Unless of course we ask. "So how come I never see you wearing the Marvin the Martian tie?"
Christmas lights used to be a pleasure to look at back when we could afford them and the electricity. Despite the pronouncements of PGMA, we ain't out of crisis yet. And so energy rates will come up, and water rates will increase and our measly salaries remain pretty much the same. I've always wondered what they do to them roadside decors after the season. Store them and re-use for next year? Or just throw 'em away? The idea that most likely we're not getting the most out of 'em decors due to substandard materials brought on by corruption in LGUs kinda makes me wonder some more...
And finally the heartache of those without significant others (sayang naman ang lamig ng panahon at walang kayakap or kaulayaw!) and those with missing family members whose birthday it was on the 24th. Hay. The pronounced loss of said family member will probably soon pass. Maybe as each unforgiving Christmas passes, so too will the loss. Merry Christmas.
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