I hate Christmas. Yeah, I know, “hate” is a strong word, maybe even a bit hyperbolic, but it’s true. This is more than mere dislike. I can’t stand the holiday, haven’t since age 15. It’s just a rotten holiday and a rotten time of year. I get almost zero enjoyment out of it other than shocking people when I tell them I don’t like it and opt out as much as I can (making certain people melt down because you told them Happy Holidays, and then laughing at them, is fun too). Most people think I’m being a Grinch as an act and it amuses them. Hey, that’s fine, as long as they leave me alone (oh, and it’s not an act.) Any participation I do I generally consider an unpleasant chore and obligation that must be performed, like cleaning out the gutters before winter, or mowing the lawn. I am a good actor. I fake my way through it so people leave me alone because once one reveals that one hates Christmas, everyone has to have a psychoanalyzing session about it. Rest assured nothing in my childhood led to me hating Christmas. I think people know I’m faking it though but I don’t care. I’m just there to get it over with and done. The relief I feel at 12:01 am on December 26 is, well, orgasmic. The best part of the season is when it is over!
Therefore, it was cool to see that PPP (Public Policy Polling) polled Christmas.
Turns out (and good news for Republicans, who have chosen to be total dicks about an already shitty holiday) that people like me who deeply resent and hate the holiday are an extreme minority. 91% of Americans? They like it just fine.
PPP polled:
Santa: Americans seem to be accepting that he’s not real, however a majority of Republican voters are sure he’s white. A majority of Democrats don’t care if he’s white or not (and those that do are divided.) I say grow up, he’s fake and not real, and frankly I don’t get it all. My family didn’t do the Santa myth. It was a sitter who insisted we get our pictures with the guy in the mall.
Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas: This one was obvious. Democrats have no preference, and aren’t offended by either. Republicans prefer Merry Christmas, and a significant minority are actually offended by the phrase “happy holidays.”
War on Christmas: Trump voters really think there’s a War on Christmas (60% of them) and a significant minority are worried about it more than a war with China (really!), but a majority of all Americans (51%) don’t think there is any such war. If there is indeed such a war, it’s Christmas’s war on the calendar. My annual Summer Clearance Sale shopping trip on Labor Day often features me yelling because department stores already have their Christmas decorations up. On bloody Labor Day.
Other holidays: Trump voters hate Kwanzaa, and of the three major holidays celebrated around this time of year in the US (yes, I know that outside of the US, Hanukkah is a minor holiday, something American Christians just don’t get), Kwanzaa is the least liked. I have my theories as to why (think “economic anxiety” heh).
I’ve been saying that the weaponization of the season by Republicans (namely, the Trumpkins and their horrible Evangelical-if-they-werent-Christian-but-Muslim-they’d-be-calling-them-ISIS-because-they-have-the-exact-same-thought-processes allies) would lead to much more open resentment and dislike of Christmas. It’ll be interesting to see the favorability of Christmas polled over the next few years, but with a 91% favorability rate, looks like I’ll have to hate on the holiday all by myself for a long time to come. I’m used to it by now.
Full poll results can be read here. Oh and bah humbug.