Christmas Hoopla

Last week someone asked me a question that I had never been asked before. And "Do you go to Grace?" was not it. The question? Drum roll please...

"Are you Jewish?"

A client and I were making small talk and we came to the topic of what we are and aren't doing for Christmas. I mentioned that my family doesn't do much, which brought on the aforementioned question. I smiled and responded with something like, "No, we're Christian. We just don't do much."

When my brother and I were younger and we had family in the area, Christmas was a bit of a production... Christmas tree all decked out, presents waiting under said tree, stockings stuffed the night before, loads of expectation, going to my grandparents' home, etc., etc.

Now it's basically Thanksgiving repeated, except we eat ham instead of turkey and we have a couple of decorations sprinkled throughout the house. And I guess we do give each other some presents, but they're very practical and/or inexpensive. That's how it goes.

I get the impression that most holiday gatherings (or non-gatherings) tend to be like this unless there are children involved. Then that's when the hoopla shows up.