The holidays are coming. This is when things should be contemplative. While some people have fun baking cookies, others wallow in the stress of Christmas. For them, these holidays are a surprise every year – although December 24th is an annual event. Why? I was able to identify at least 4 guys who feel this way for different reasons.
1. The Christmas Perfectionist
Perfectionists are family managers for whom every enthusiastic look means an order of service. After New Year's Eve, they experience a low point that after Christmas is BEFORE Christmas! It will be suppressed immediately and until the inevitable date around December 20th. late. Then the to-do list handed down through generations is dug up and the letters to baby Jesus are collected. Nothing is left to chance! After baking cookies 24 hours a day for the remaining 4 days, decorating the apartment, and quickly buying gifts on the way home from work, on Christmas Eve I feel cripplingly tired, even drowsy. After the holidays, perfectionists need a mental overhaul and the cycle starts all over again.
2. The waste of Christmas
The wastrels realize, the night before Christmas Eve, that it really is Christmas. The unequivocal proof of this: strange lights are hanging in the streets and acquaintances ask if he already has all the gifts. At breakfast he realizes there is no escape. One last sip of coffee, a deep breath and he storms off to the nearest shopping street. First, a sparse spruce is saved just to be used as a Christmas tree. The party and the gift for the wife come from the supermarket – a last-minute salmon already marinated and a bath set packaged for Christmas are already 25% off. Stressed, he shouts “2nd check out please” and his wife calls him for the thousandth time. On the way to the car, you buy gifts at the pharmacy and tobacconist, in case the bath set has the wrong scent. To console himself, he stops at the sausage stand – he doesn't care anyway.
3. The Christmas Parasite
The parasites seem surprisingly calm given the minimalist preparations for Christmas. On Christmas Eve morning they appear to have been swallowed by the earth. Maybe you're already in the Christmas spirit somewhere at the Christmas market? Eventually you discover her on the couch talking on the phone. Instead of cooking and cleaning the house at Christmas, they call their entire contact list to wish them a Merry Christmas. Once the covering is uncovered, the parasite's stress level increases. The adrenaline turns you into an effective tidying tornado: things on the table, counter and elsewhere are simply snatched away with your forearm, while at the same time they are cleaned and dusted with your sleeve. A Christmas tablecloth is placed over the remaining tablecloths, and the chipped tablecloths on the floor are all placed under the box with a broom cloth. Fir-scented air freshener is sprayed from the toilet bowl and Christmas cleaning is done. Everything else is not available for recycling reasons and we ate at grandma's house. When giving gifts he explains: “As a gift, I invite you all to a Christmas punch!”
4. Christmas Self-Help Club
Ever since the first Santa Clauses appeared in supermarkets, this guy has been thinking: what could others want? What could I give them so I could get through it well this time? The desperation for an answer increases with each day that Christmas approaches. As the pressure mounts, consultative coffees with friends come into play. After working up the courage and explaining to each other how stressful this time is and how the demands of your life can occupy your mind, you break into the stores at the nearest mall with the stated goal: “Close your eyes and move on! What's up! of you, I'll have to go in there again.” Bitingly determined gait included. This way, socks, napkins, candlesticks, calendars and teapots end up in the bag, which can be given as a gift. After this high performance, the group is filled with pride and ends the day with hot punch. Only then can the stress hedgehogs be contacted again. Bottom up!
Do any of the descriptions sound familiar to you? Or have you recognized some of these things in yourself? Of course, any similarities to living people are purely coincidental. For all of them – with and without Christmas stress – Christmas will still come and yes, someone will think of them too. Here's to all the Christmas heroes!