To ask for your unpopular Christmas opinions?

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Mine is that a traditional Christmas dinner is horrible
Turkey - bleurgh, so dry
Sprouts - farts posing as leaves
Parsnips - how can anyone put them in their mouth?!
Stuffing - like eating sand
Christmas pudding - sour booze disguised as cake
Christmas cake - way too dry and that much fruit does not belong in a sponge

I'd honestly be happy with a plate of pigs in blankets, a jar of cranberry sauce and a spoon to eat the sauce straight from the jar.

Is this a safe space to admit I hate secret santas at work?

Trifle can get in the bin

@ginghamtablecloths - surely you just take what you want? I totally agree tons of food on a plate is off putting. We don't have half those things. Just nut roast/meat, roast potatoes and parsnips, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots and stuffing. I serve myself a small amount of each - no piled up plates here. We don't go mad on alcohol either. A glass of Bucks Fizz at breakfast, a glass of wine with dinner and a glass of Dissaranno (or in coffee) in the evening. Excess is not compulsory.

Christmas dinner is just a fancy Sunday roast.

Why do people love to say this as though it's a huge revelation?

@UndertheCedartree - I wish I could just take what I want but the whole caboodle is plated up in the kitchen and passed along the table while my requests of 'not too much please' are totally ignored. This is why I announced that I would visit after lunch with my excuse that it wouldn't be so tiring. That works for me just fine.

The hostess has three big lads so a piled up plate looks normal.

There seems to be the worry from hosts of 'have you got enough?' as though a smaller portion is insufficient (starving? no) so last year I suffered no indigestion and I felt much better.

I said no to works secret santa this year, they think it's because I didnt want to go into the office because of covid, it's not, I just couldn't be arsed.

Langsdestiny I've enjoyed them in teams where everyone gets on and we all know each other well enough to get our person a really nice gift within the limit. To me that's closer to a secret santa with friends.

I hate it in teams where people don't really know each other well but there's an expectation of forced fun.

@ginghamtablecloths - sounds like you've got a good plan! A piled up plate would turn me right off!!

Mmmm op just sounds like a picky eater who is he’s to please 😂

The animal exploitation and the food waste is an atrocity.
Buying presents for people who are fully fledged adults and more than capable of buying their own stuff &Sending bits of cardboard to people for the sake of it- just why?!
However I love xmas and ALL xmas songs! I'm gay and the word faggot bothers me not one bit.

Advent calendars should NOT contain anything except Christmassy pictures!

No Lego figures, no perfume, definitely no bloody Disney crappy chocolate.

The best ones we had were Alphabet Advent Calendars. Lots of fun trying to guess what would be behind each door. Would the C be a Candle, Cake or Christmas Card? Would S be Santa, a Snowman or a Sleigh? What on earth could be Christmassy and begin with Q? The kids loved them so much I closed the doors again and saved them for next year!

Advent calendars have gone a bit mental. I was looking for something modest and simple as a family advent calendar (I actually wouldn't have minded one with small bits of chocolate in, even) but it seems nearly impossible. They are mostly huge and expensive, and have big presents in for each day, or large bars of chocolate.

And you don't need a separate Advent calendar for each member of the family! Adults don't need one at all, and kids can take turns to open the doors.

Also, Advent candles are the most boring Christmas 'treat' ever devised!

I absolutely can't frickin stand Christmas cards. I hate the colour red, so its a bad time of year for me. I begrudgingly blu tack the cards along the hall, hating the fact they clash terribly with my asthetic, but as soon as boxing day is done they are binned.

Most Christmas songs are terrible

Elf on the shelf if ridiculous and puts pressure on parents

Having a real Christmas tree is wasteful

Spending lots of money on gifts goes against the Christmas message

My friend hates Christmas. She says the day itself is a mix of complete boredom and also a horrible slump once you open all the presents. She dreads seeing family she doesn't really get on with, dreads the office party, hates seeing people boasting about the expensive gifts they get their kids and despises Elf on the shelf.

I on the other hand adore it. I love spending the day with my partner and family. There's normally a big group of us and we all get on fantastically and have a wonderful time. I love writing cards, choosing gifts and spending time with the people I love most. DP and I also love NYE where we celebrate our love and the past year we have had. Just love it all really. This thread is sad.

People who regularly buy new ornaments for the tree and have themes. Everyone should keep and treasure the same ones. A tree full of white and blue plastic balls is NOT stylish.

Christmas is overrated and the "build up" starts far too early.

All Christmas songs are shit.

Christmas cake is meh.

@Miamarshmallows

My friend hates Christmas. She says the day itself is a mix of complete boredom and also a horrible slump once you open all the presents. She dreads seeing family she doesn't really get on with, dreads the office party, hates seeing people boasting about the expensive gifts they get their kids and despises Elf on the shelf.

I on the other hand adore it. I love spending the day with my partner and family. There's normally a big group of us and we all get on fantastically and have a wonderful time. I love writing cards, choosing gifts and spending time with the people I love most. DP and I also love NYE where we celebrate our love and the past year we have had. Just love it all really. This thread is sad.

Why do you feel sad that people don't like the same things as you? There are plenty of other things in the world to like and feel happy about.

It's a Wonderful Life is one of the worst Christmas films ever. Maudlin, overlong and terrible acting.

Agree I’ve seen it and just can’t get excited about it.

@Crustmasiscoming

Advent calendars have gone a bit mental. I was looking for something modest and simple as a family advent calendar (I actually wouldn't have minded one with small bits of chocolate in, even) but it seems nearly impossible. They are mostly huge and expensive, and have big presents in for each day, or large bars of chocolate.

Mine had cheap Cadbury ones, small squares of chocolate, got them in the supermarket

I loathe my Mother and am delighted not to be able to see her this year because of Covid.

This upsets some people because we are not allowed to hate our parents especially at Xmas.

I love bread sauce.
Made properly (by that, I mean made the way I like it, of course!). I don’t understand how anyone can think they’ve had a Christmas meal if they’ve not had bread sauce with it, nor do I understand how anyone can say it’s nasty or (worse) “well, it’s OK”.

I actually like the old advent calendars. They remind me of advent calendars of old when they were exiting and you just got a picture of a drum or trumpet etc revealed behind each daily window. Sure I've had chocolate advent calendar as a child. I remember the stale waxy chocolate to this day.

However, I haven't seen a 'proper' i.e. cardboard advent in the shops for years.