Christmas Mourning: The True Meaning of Christmas

It was Christmas morning. Marin, David, Rachel, Mark, Jen and Cameron all sat around the fire and exchanged their gifts. These five people were not ordinary people however. They were the soulless, pompous scum that belonged to the upper 1%.

Nothing made them happy save for other peoples misery, and Christmas morning was their favorite time to get together. Not because they all particularly like or enjoyed being around each other, but rather to revel in the misfortunes that had transpired throughout the year with their influence.

One after another they would share stories that to any decent person would sound simply horrible! Yet the joy it brought these five was surreal...

Marin piped up feeling like the fat kid left out of the picking of the dodge ball teams.
"I have found the true meaning of Christmas!" She exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? Well I think someone beat you to it. It's about spending time with your loved ones and giving and receiving gifts!" Cameron blurted out as if to steal her glory. The group was silent, then suddenly erupted into laughter.

"You almost had me convinced that you actually believed that load of garbage! Ha ha ha ha!" Jen snorted in her usual show of cynicism.
Although tearing up from laughing so hard, Marin again attempted her story.
"The meaning of Christmas is about none of those things! There is nothing festive about being around people you can't stand and certainly no one here would ever give more than they absolutely had to! Only those simple minded people of the middle class ever spend so much money that they go into debt and I laugh every year." Marin said trying to hold back another fit of laughter.

"This story is about how one young man from the middle class found the true meaning of Christmas..."

***

The kitchen was hot. Even for being the middle of winter and close to Christmas. Mat made his way through the back door. He was glad it was so hot because it suited the angry mood he was in. He made his way to dry storage to grab a uniform, by an astounding random chance he grabbed his embroidered jacket, the pants how ever were spares. He stormed off to the washroom and got changed.

Mat emerged from the washroom a few moments later and said with as much joy as he could muster, "Goddamn this place." He lowered his head and began shaking it from side to side. Mat made his way on to the line. It was a disaster. Mat again lowered his head and began to shake it from side to side.

Just then, Maggie walked through the swinging door. "Hey Mat! How are you today?" She asked. She was getting excited for Christmas.

"Angry. Depressed. Stagnant. Really any of those three things are interchangeable. " Mat grumbled.

"Aw! But it's almost Christmas! Aren't you at least excited for that?"

"Ha! It's December 23rd and I can't even stand the thought of Christmas. The consumerism, the ridiculously crowded malls when you really need just one thing that you can't buy anywhere else. The worst though is how stupid people are while on the roads! I watched a kid get hit by a truck today and that dick just kept driving! The kid was okay, he got up and started flipping off the guy in the truck, but still. It makes me wonder why people get so crazy at this time of year. I mean it's just another day."

"Well Mat. Christmas is Jesus's birthday! See way way back 2,000 years ago..."

"I know the story Maggie. It's a work of fiction. It would make just as much sense to celebrate a holiday on Micky Mouse's birthday."

"Your a dick you know that Mat?"

"I do what I can. Look if your all upons Christmas, and you truly love it, then don't let me ruin it for you. I however find it to be a holiday of the seven deadly sins."

"haha! Oh Mat! It's good to see that even though your having a bad day you still have your humor in tact." Maggie said as she washed her hands and walked back through the swinging door.

Mat turned back to the line, grabbed the line check book. He stared at it. It was blank from the morning shift. "Well if you don't care, why should I?" He said as he placed the book back on the shelf. He then went into cleaning and stock mode, and while he was doing that, he thought.

Mat reflected on what the really meaning of Christmas was about. He thought about that poor kid that got hit by that asshole in the truck. He thought about how his extended family made him feel so badly about being 24 and still working in a kitchen. He even thought about how people always seemed to complain about how they spent so much money at Christmas that they were in debt for the rest of the year.

Finally after all the thoughts had filtered and the line clean and stocked, it was time to have a coffee. The night would be bad enough due to lack of people he had on, and made even worse by the fact that he would have no one on that he felt comfortable enough to chat with. This was what he felt his life would come to. Forever working in a kitchen.

Mat slipped into depression mode. Brooding and dark he grabbed a coffee. He scanned the dining room while pouring. There was one girl that could always cheer him up. They were just friends, yet he felt like there was a deeper connection between them. He attempted to ask her once how she felt, but she never answered him. She was sitting in the 90's with a few people. Mat sighed and morosely walked back into the kitchen.

She looked so happy, and he didn't want to ruin that. She deserved to be happy and not brought down by his brooding. Maggie came back into the kitchen.

"Seriously Mat, you need to cheer up. What's the thing that's most bothering you right at this moment?"

"Mostly, it's supervising right now. Jake's out of town, you'll be off soon and I am understaffed as usual. To make matters worse, the guys that are on aren't people who generally have intelligent conversations."

"True, but you should still make the best of it. Hey! I know what will cheer you up! That server you like is sitting in the 90s! Go talk to her! She always seems to put you in a better mood!"

"Thanks Maggie. I saw her there already, but she looks like she's in a good mood. Plus she is with people. I don't want to bring her down in front of her friends."

"You were starting to bring me down when you first got here! What's the difference?"

"Your my friend, I don't feel to badly about dampening your holiday cheer. he he!"

Maggie sighed, "Well you got me there. You should still cheer up a bit though." With that true, yet short insight, Maggie went back out front.

Suddenly it struck him! Like fryer oil on chicken fingers! Like salt on fries! The true meaning of Christmas! Mat raced out front, joy spreading through out him like wildfire! The message was loud and clear! He grabbed Maggie and drug her into the handicap washroom.

"I finally figured it out!" Mat cried with excitement!

"What?" Maggie asked with confusion.

"The meaning of Christmas! I found it!"

"Uhh... Don't they explain it in It's a Wonderful Life?"

"No. Christmas isn't about any of that! Christmas is about going into debt so that you have something to bitch about in the new year! It's about being selfish and disregarding other peoples needs! It's about being greedy and wanting more when you don't see that everything you have is more than enough! It's about spending time with people who make you feel like gum on the bottom of your shoe! It's about the consumerist marketing of some old, creepy pedophile in a red suit! It's about self gratification by means of useless gifts that no one wants or needs, and above all Christmas is about lies and deceit where the baby Jesus is concerned!" Mat poured out with joy!

"So... Merry Christmas Mat?" Maggie asked still confused by what Mat was talking about.

"Merry Consumerist bullshit holiday Maggie!"