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Holidays are the Worst

 

    The decorations are going up. The music is playing and the sales are big. The holiday season has arrived.

    Some look forward to this time of year while other dread it.

    ”I hate the holidays. Most wonderful time of year my a*!,” said Miram Ford, a junior English major at Florida A& M University, “I know I’m not supposed to say that, but it’s a depressing time of year. It’s cold, I’m broke; stressed out and people are grouchy. The fun is gone.”

    This time of year can be hard on those who don’t celebrate the holidays at all.

“People are always surprised when I say I don’t celebrate Christmas,” said Asif Mohammed, a computer information systems major at Florida A and M University. “They ask if it’s for religious reasons, when I say yes, it’s justified. But they still give me that ‘I feel so sorry for you’ look. Not celebrating Christmas is not the end of the world. People forget that.”

    Howard University graduate student Jamie Daniels agrees that people forget about other religions at Christmas time. “There are others holidays in December. I’m Jewish and I celebrate Hanukkah. It’s becoming more secular but as a supplement to Christmas. It’s not supplemental. It is it’s own holiday. It has nothing to do with Christmas.”

    ”It’s very hard to go anywhere this time of year. We’re inundated with Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. This time of year I limit how much time I spend out because I feel like I have to defend my choice not to celebrate Christmas,” Daniels said.

    Mohammed a Muslim American agrees, “I can’t go anywhere. Christmas is everywhere. People just assume that everyone celebrates Christmas. It’s annoying.”

    Psychologist Dr. Ann Halloway offers some advice to get through this time of year, “The best thing to do is find something positive that you like to do. Take up a hobby preferably something physical. Spend time with family and friends. If you start feeling depressed please talk to a counselor.”

    Like it or not the holidays are coming. Some of us live for this time of year but this year let’s remember the people who don’t feel the same way about it. Let’s all be kind to each other.