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just say you do celebrate it, but in your own way which to the untrained eye looks a lot like not celebrating
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Dec 15, 2020 10:09
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| # ? May 24, 2024 22:13 |
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@Jaeluni just get one of these bad boys problem solved
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Dec 15, 2020 10:15
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I will add to the general sentiment of this being a very unfair situation to put you in. I think the only moral answer is to teach her the truth. Mushroom Santa
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Dec 15, 2020 10:28
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it would be better to lie to that ba and say you really like christmas and are excited about opening your presents and listening out for santa and you hope it snows and that i could do it for you if you want, only i find it quite difficult not to swear
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Dec 15, 2020 10:32
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A rousing round of Jingle Bells, gently caress the Po[call ended]
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Dec 15, 2020 10:35
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As far as I can see the only way to make this Zoom call work is to not take it seriously and turn it into a live-action pantomime in which you have an OTT Scrooge-like conversion to the concept of Christmas. If it's a performance your niece will be entertained, you're not really lying if you're obviously playing a character and it's difficult for your sister to push back against silly ridiculousness.
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Dec 15, 2020 10:36
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Guavanaut posted:A rousing round of Jingle Bells, gently caress the Po[call ended] Nah i'm very conservative with fucks - I think they should be reserved for use in times of genuine anger and people who deserve them. Cunts even more so: I keep oval office locked in a mental emergency break glass box. A frig or a bollocks or an arse is likely to just pop out like punctuation though
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Dec 15, 2020 10:42
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justcola posted:
I feel the whole thing a is a trap and this is probably the best way around it. Maybe mention how even different christians celebrate christmas on different days, or how in some places the main present day is a St Nicholas' day and actual Christmas is a bit more solemn. Don't get into why you don't so so much as encourage your great neice (?) to be accepting of different people choosing to observe things in their own way and how that is fine. I mean this year also does give you a general get out, as we're all going to be doing things differently. Normally I would be going to midnight mass, waking up at midday to knock back some brandy with my dad, and then dragging our dinner long enough to ensure my mum forgets to watch the queen's speech. This year I'm probably going to watch a movie instead of going to midnight mass, and I'm at my own home so I don't have to worry about being forced to hear the queen pretend she cares about us paupers.
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Dec 15, 2020 10:42
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kecske posted:just say you do celebrate it, but in your own way which to the untrained eye looks a lot like not celebrating I like this but it might be a bit short if she really cares
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Dec 15, 2020 10:47
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stev posted:Yeah this seems like a trap. I'm guessing your sister wants it to happen so she has an easy to swallow answer and drops it there, whereas refusing to answer will just make her more curious. Like when my dad wouldn't let me watch Robocop. I believed in Robocop until I was much too old for it to be cute. Now I know the truth : ACAB
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Dec 15, 2020 10:48
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a pipe smoking dog posted:I feel the whole thing a is a trap and this is probably the best way around it. Maybe mention how even different christians celebrate christmas on different days, or how in some places the main present day is a St Nicholas' day and actual Christmas is a bit more solemn. Don't get into why you don't so so much as encourage your great neice (?) to be accepting of different people choosing to observe things in their own way and how that is fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K40epl0r-Fg (This is what everyone who complains about insufficient public Christmas decorations sounds like to me.)
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Dec 15, 2020 10:49
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I've got everything I need in life, I don't want people feeling like they should spend their hard earned money on me, so I just avoid the whole present thing altogether, is a line that might work. Unless your reason is that you murdered a mall Santa and don't want to be reminded of it, then "it's about being together, not the presents" should be fine.
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Dec 15, 2020 10:53
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stev posted:Yeah this seems like a trap. I'm guessing your sister wants it to happen so she has an easy to swallow answer and drops it there, whereas refusing to answer will just make her more curious. Like when my dad wouldn't let me watch Robocop. This is the answer right here. Just stream Robocop through the Zoom call.
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Dec 15, 2020 10:54
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:I think she could take it but maybe not when Xmas is in 10 days, I agree about the platitudes stuff. Maybe just say you hope they have fun and you can talk to them afterwards about it, and have the full blown discussion with a year left for it to blow over. I would be pretty angry if my relatives put me in the position of having to lie to my niblings directly.
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Dec 15, 2020 10:56
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Just do this verbatim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueVPUsyrT0s&t=6s
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Dec 15, 2020 10:57
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Christmas is good. It’s nothing to do with Christianity, or capitalism. It’s just an excuse to have a party, be with your loved ones, eat nice food and share presents, all in the dead of winter when we’re all cold and miserable. There’s no need to rationalise it further.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:06
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kingturnip posted:I can now give myself a covid test twice a week. Which is good. (False positives notwithstanding). So this was something I wanted to know. Are people in the UK really expected to self administer their own COVID tests? I had two tests this year, both negative. And while it's not pleasant, it was quick because a nurse who knew what they were doing could administer them. The idea of trying to DIY seems like pure madness. And probably results in tons of people doing it wrong. Jaeluni Asjil posted:For overnight pondering: It sounds like part of the issue is that you aren't sure how to answer the question "why I don't celebrate Christmas." with an answer that doesn't involve excessive emotions. (This isn't meant as a criticism. It's behaviour that is common for most people when dealing with something that involves lots of personal feelings.) Try and look at your behaviour around not celebrating Christmas in as rational method as possible. Maybe understanding exactly why you don't celebrate Christmas will help you answer your grand-nieces question. Do you not like celebrating Christmas because you feel anxious about it? (Christmas becomes so big and so much to do, that it makes my anxiety rise.) Is it because you feel that it's too materialistic. (Each year has to be bigger and better than the last. Which again sounds like anxiety is at play.) When you have a concrete answer that you can point to as to why you don't celebrate Christmas then you can answer your grand-nieces question.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:11
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You could go in a "I'm not against individuals celebrating Christmas in the privacy of their own homes, I just don't like how they spent two months shoving it down our throats" direction, which isn't too far from where I'm at. Like yes, I'm aware it's Christmas, I don't need to see a family of talking carrots to be aware that many people have dinner around this time of year.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:16
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If you welcome mushroom santa into your life you'll see a whole lot more than talking carrots
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Dec 15, 2020 11:17
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SpaceCommie posted:This is the answer right here. Robocop is more of an easter movie though, what with it being an american retelling of the passion.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:28
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The Question IRL posted:So this was something I wanted to know. Are people in the UK really expected to self administer their own COVID tests? For the home tests yea, I'm currently part of a ONS study on infection rates and get tested weekly - the ONS courier shows up with the pre packaged test, I do it myself and had it back to them sealed, and they take it off. The benefit is that you don't need medically trained staff to adminsiter these, so you can scale much faster by just getting the general pool of unemployed in the job. It's probably less accurate, but it means they get vastly more data. If I was in a hospital I'd expect staff to test me theirselves though.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:32
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Comrade Fakename posted:Christmas is good. It’s nothing to do with Christianity, or capitalism. It’s just an excuse to have a party, be with your loved ones, eat nice food and share presents, all in the dead of winter when we’re all cold and miserable. There’s no need to rationalise it further. Christmas can be good, but as someone who doesn't celebrate it, what I mostly see is an ENORMOUS amount of pressure put onto people to spend a lot of money they may not be able to afford on the perfect Christmas with a huge amount of food, expensive presents, etc. It's an orgy of marketing-led consumption, and it's pretty gross. No doubt there is a kernel of peace, light and love at the centre but it's really obscured.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:32
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I remember discussing with my mum when I was a child that father christmas must be real because the imagery is in shops everywhere and if he wasnt real then that would mean the whole concept of shopping around Christmas time was made up. I think Christmas is good for that as it disillusions people at a young age that marketing is a lie, capitalism is predatory and sets you up for questioning the existence of God. I do like getting gifts for people, you don't have to go apeshit, just some book they might have mentioned wanting to read a few months back, or a particular bit of booze they wouldn't get for themselves, or just some weird tat like a fidget spinner that glows in the dark. I think its less about asking someone what they want than showing that you know them a bit, and if you dont know what their weird hobbies and interests are, give em a call and have a chat. Winter can be loving miserable so its nice to have a third of it based on the idea of coming together and making merry. Especially as next Christmas we will be eating chlorinated gruel and working in the dogshit mines.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:39
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I used to hate Christmas. Then I decided to stop doing presents and now I enjoy it. Seems the stress of trying to buy people stuff they ended up not really wanting was what made me hate it. I make it clear to people they are not to buy me anything. Now I just get drunk, sing bad karaoke, over eat and spend it with loved ones. Great time.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:40
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:For overnight pondering: I think you sister needs to own this, get her to tell you what she wants her granddaughter to know. It's not reasonable to put pressure on you to try and work it out. Then whatever she says just lie and repeat that - it's just a five year old after all.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:47
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therattle posted:Christmas can be good, but as someone who doesn't celebrate it, what I mostly see is an ENORMOUS amount of pressure put onto people to spend a lot of money they may not be able to afford on the perfect Christmas with a huge amount of food, expensive presents, etc. It's an orgy of marketing-led consumption, and it's pretty gross.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:48
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I actually like buying people Christmas presents because I have a formula for it - Christmas hampers for extended family, bespoke presents for close family and friends, intelligence gathering via coworkers for the inevitable secret Santa. Mind you hampers can easily get expensive as gently caress if you’re not careful, so the key is to figure out your budget and the number of gifts in advance then size the hampers or gift boxes accordingly, and pretty them up with some crafting supplies.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:49
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therattle posted:Christmas can be good, but as someone who doesn't celebrate it, what I mostly see is an ENORMOUS amount of pressure put onto people to spend a lot of money they may not be able to afford on the perfect Christmas with a huge amount of food, expensive presents, etc. It's an orgy of marketing-led consumption, and it's pretty gross. No doubt there is a kernel of peace, light and love at the centre but it's really obscured. The solution is that you should just celebrate Christmas. There is literally no reason not to. It's like saying "I don't celebrate the August Bank Holiday". It's a day off work, in the summer. Maybe you can go on a short holiday somewhere, maybe you can take another day down the pub with your friends, maybe play a videogame you've not had time to get to. Christmas really isn't much more than that. Who cares about the commercialisation? Capitalism works every other day of the year too. It's not about "peace, light and love", it's about a party in the winter. That's it.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:56
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Guavanaut posted:It's also really poo poo for people working retail and hospitality because of people who want everything to be perfect/are entitled babbys. No doubt. justcola posted:I remember discussing with my mum when I was a child that father christmas must be real because the imagery is in shops everywhere and if he wasnt real then that would mean the whole concept of shopping around Christmas time was made up. I think Christmas is good for that as it disillusions people at a young age that marketing is a lie, capitalism is predatory and sets you up for questioning the existence of God. If I think of a gift for someone during the year that I think they'll particularly like I by it for them, if it's affordable. I think that's even better than an Xmas present because it's not precipitated by an external prompt to buy a gift. The idea of a winter gathering is good - like I said, there is a kernel in there of something nice - but it feels like that's become a very small part of it, and it's so loaded with ridiculously high expectations. Comrade Fakename posted:The solution is that you should just celebrate Christmas. There is literally no reason not to. It's like saying "I don't celebrate the August Bank Holiday". It's a day off work, in the summer. Maybe you can go on a short holiday somewhere, maybe you can take another day down the pub with your friends, maybe play a videogame you've not had time to get to. I'm Jewish. We have had gatherings of friends on/around Xmas and it's nice but the day itself has zero significance.
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Dec 15, 2020 11:57
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My partner and I have had a great deal of fun this year replacing the word Christmas with Pissmas in songs. Maybe you should tell your niece to do that.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:03
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Christflaps.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:05
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Guavanaut posted:Christflaps. That inevitably leads to Jessflaps though.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:06
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Guavanaut posted:Christflaps. Is that what happens when you peel one of those Jesus Oranges?
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Dec 15, 2020 12:07
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The Question IRL posted:So this was something I wanted to know. Are people in the UK really expected to self administer their own COVID tests? In August, tests were self-administered (and administered to kids by parents) at the drive-to testing center we went to. At least they only needed both nostrils swabbed for babies, as opposed to nostril and throat.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:08
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My family have mostly stopped getting each other presents except for kids and it works well. We just get pissed and eat too much food for a few days. I'd you don't like turkey because it's a bit of a faff cooking a bird that big do something else
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Dec 15, 2020 12:09
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Devils on horseback (dates wrapped in streaky bacon and bunged in the oven for a bit) are the best thing in the world and should be essential. So much better than pigs in blankets which do also rule.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:14
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Free yourself from the chains of turkey. It is tasteless bird that only acts as tissue to mop up the gravy, takes up too much room in the oven and causes more stress than its worth. Instead make a simple lime jelly with the flying saucers sweets in it, a festive coronavirus jelly that will make you the toast of the town this christ mass day.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:14
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justcola posted:Free yourself from the chains of turkey. It is tasteless bird that only acts as tissue to mop up the gravy, takes up too much room in the oven and causes more stress than its worth. is the idea here that the flying saucers dissolve before the jelly has set thus looking like a coronavirus structure?
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Dec 15, 2020 12:16
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Turkey leg off the bone is great. Breast not so much.
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Dec 15, 2020 12:17
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| # ? May 24, 2024 22:13 |
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https://twitter.com/SolHughesWriter/status/1338804351851261952?s=20
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Dec 15, 2020 12:18
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