Peeking in on me in my PJ's....

I work retail during the holidays.

Need I say more?
(and I WILL but later...)

And what can no store be without around the holidays? (Insert cheesy game show music here) That's right... Christmas music! The thought of it stuns me to the core. Ok, that's a bit strong. I don't hate Christmas music. In fact, some of its ok... but when you're forced to listen to the same holiday station that plays that same song at least 4 times in one hour it can get a little old. Of course, by little I mean RRRREAAAAALY, RRRRREEEEAAAAALY fucking old.

Such is the case with a little jingle called "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." (Small note: for the longest time I was convinced Claus was spelled with an "e" at the end. Damn you, Hollywood! Moving on...) With this ever popular holiday song (which has a millions different version, many of which sound exactly the same...) comes many concerns. It's sad, really...

Around 3 p.m., in the midst of the craziness that was December 23 in the coveted John Deere Store, I was listening to what was my 26-28 dose of this yule tide number and suddenly something changed. I was actually listening to the lyrics. I've always known them, and known them by heart but had never actually listened to them before. Man, I was really listening... and wow...

"He sees you when you're sleeping..."
WHAT? Great! So , I gotta fat man peeking in on me in my PJ's. Wonderful! Just what I need is some other dude watching me sleep! I can see it now in households across America... "Jimmy, are you gonna be ok in your room all alone?" "It's ok, Mom, I've got some hippy named Jesus and fat guy with a beard watching me while I sleep. It's just fine."

"He knows when you're awake..."
So, two dudes are watching do everything else during the day. Perves, I say, perves! It's like a holiday version of Brokeback Mountain. Yeah, come on... Santa is Ennis and, well, Jesus is Jack Twist for obvious reasons. Think about it.

Perhaps I have been thinking about this too much. Perhaps I have said "Happy Holidays" to one too many people. Perhaps I am sick of people really getting the wrong idea about this holiday... ?

I don't know.

All I know is... for me:
It's not about presents. It's not about how much someone spent on you. It's not about impressions. It's not about the food (although, I do love the food... even if it is tacos with my Dad - ha!).

It's about family. It's about friends. It's about love. It's about being together. It's about being ok with imperfections (let's be honest, perfection is boring anyway). It's about realzing that you're doing alright...

It's about being able to say it's a wonderful life...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!