The title above is a varied title of a very popular December holiday tune, sung by many 60s crooners, including Andy Williams, who hosted many Christmas TV specials, and this song sounded like being an annual issue that you could be pretty sure was on his playlist.
Williams sang the words, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” and before anyone paints me as an even bigger Scrooge than I can be perceived, let me say that I really love the holidays ahead, even though I think Halloween is overdone these days. Not a big fan of the guts and gore depicted in Halloween costumes, decorations, movies and celebrations, but sadly it’s on the shelves and racks in many big box store shelves, on the online stores, in theaters, and made very appealing to young people who pester their parents to portray him on October 31.
I also love Thanksgiving, which I’ve stated many times on this forum, and I love Christmas, even more so before the pandemic, because there are things we did with friends that we didn’t. not times since many of us have gone through changes in our habits. I could also do with a bit of a toned down version of the holiday marketing, especially the marketing ahead of Thanksgiving and even Halloween in some stores. So why is this the most terrible time of the year for me? Let me explain.
First, at this time of year, we begin the overflow of Medicare Advantage advertisements harassing us for “call this number” to find out if we’re eligible to get up to $1700.00 added to our Social Security, and the celebrities chosen to make these pleas seem to have some rather irritating voices projecting into their presentations. For my part, I grab the remote to knock “previous channel” so that I don’t have to listen to what I can already replay in my sleep.
Then this year we were inundated with requests from law firms, intimidating us how to join the list of those who may have been at Camp Lejeune between the years 1953 and 1987. Certainly, this is an important question that affected a lot of people who may have been at Camp Lejeune, but the ads seem to be more of a competitive race involving said companies, to jump on the heels of as many victims as possible to let their company run the suit for them, rather than express genuine concern for the said victims. Obviously, the more they represent, the more money their business can make.
Another event, creating a six-month puzzle from this time of year, is the daily alternative parking on the streets of our city. The time to move cars from one side of the street to the other is supposed to be 10:00. Often people change cars well before said time, and often well after, if ever at all. Sometimes when people move their car early, they park directly in front of a car already there, causing traffic problems, and with many people having not yet learned to park near the curb (often up to a foot away), it barely allows moving cars to pass.
Adding to the list of reasons why it’s the most terrible time of year, there’s already some stations showing Christmas movies, again pushing the importance of Thanksgiving and Halloween out of the way. of the chronology of the feasts celebrated. About these films, most seem to follow the exact scripts, the only difference being the actors and actresses who play the roles.
For me, this time of year brings “Turn the Clocks Back” which is a pain, but only because I have timers on my house lights and need to change the timers. Technology isn’t at the top of my talent list, and I’ve generally forgotten how I set timers six months ago, and have a frustrating time trying to get things in sync for the next six month. I usually manage to finally get them ready, but that comes with a few (more?) big words.
Lastly, this time of year is not so good for me as it is the end of the current baseball season. I know baseball will be back in February, but it’s almost three months away, and if you’re a baseball buff, like me, it’s like a young kid having to wait for Christmas or their birthday, for almost three months, looking like a lifetime away.
That said, there are a lot of things that I look forward to at this time of year, and a lot of people that I like to see at this time of year, which outnumber the things that bother me. , but at my age, I can do without the things mentioned in this story.
Maybe to appease this savage beast, I have to try to counter-react by starting to play “Above the river and through the woods, to Grandma’s house we go,” the Thanksgiving tune we learned as kids, then start anticipating Andy William’s “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
