Author’s Note #1: This is in response to the brief mention of Christmas Song in my cousin, Troy’s, rant about how you should never choke on anything in front of him because he will do weird things to your chest and mouth. Some call it CPR. Others call it a lawsuit. You decide.
My lack of joy for Christmas songs may be because I worked in retail for many years. But this year is different. I’m not sure why. I think enough time has passed between my employment in any establishment that plays the same twenty songs on a loop. I rarely have heard Christmas songs in the past few years, besides in the movies that I watch: Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, Die Hard. More than an absence from the holiday jingles that have been associated with harsh fluorescent lighting and a job that I think of escaping from every day, I think that my association slowly changed.
A colleague of mine, whom I will dearly miss, has played the same holiday song loop in the morning, during the day, and afternoon for the past month or so. I didn’t notice it was the same YouTube video until about two weeks in. Then I found myself enjoying the musical melodies of all the Christmas songs. Then I started humming and whistling them even when the songs were not playing. And it wasn’t like an annoying song that gets stuck in your head like MmmBop by Hanson or some damn Spice Girls song. (Sorry to do that to you, but I had to make a point). Yes, that feeling you have because that song is now stuck in your head is the opposite of what I feel.
Now, I think I am enjoying the songs for a few reasons. One, because they are just instrumental songs. Two, because I love my job now even when it is hard. And three, because I will literally be coming home for Christmas. I have never felt that before. Sure, there have been plenty of years that I drove a few hours to see my family. But this year, I have to pray for good weather and non-cranky pilots to get me to Anchorage just so that I can get a flight back to Michigan, which is half-way around the world.
Christmas is more than songs and shopping. It is about spending quality time with those people that we care about the most and who care about us. The songs are a reminder that that time is coming soon.
Author's Note #2: Who hasn't started shopping for Christmas gifts???