English 280: The Journalistic Essay

By Michelle Hrycenko

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” is echoing through the Silver City Galleria Mall on the first Saturday of December.  The Christmas decorations hang from the ceiling as shoppers bustle around the mall in search of the perfect gift for their loved ones.  A group of middle aged women in long coats and scarves hustle by, their arms trimmed with shopping bags, as they discuss their newly purchased items.  The mall is crawling with stress combined with the thrills of the season.  There is that certain something that makes the Christmas season important and special to many.  Whether it be the gathering of family, the gift exchange, or the memories of a child waking up to Christmas morning; that something is what charges the shoppers out to the mall on this first day of December to celebrate the spirit of Christmas.

As Christmas in the year 2007 quickly approaches, one is left to ponder the true meaning of Christmas.  In an age where the commercial industry tells the citizens what to purchase if they want to have a successful Christmas, and bring to their children the joy they once received on Christmas day.  The flyers are sent out with deals of the season, in which we are expected to wake up at 4 am to buy that plasma screen TV, that new Dell laptop, or the latest iPod.  Our society feels the pressures to spend that hard earned dollar in order to make our family happy.

At 5 a.m. at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, New Hampshire the stores are crowded and clothes are being strewn across the floor of The Limited.  Whitney Demers was at work for 4 a.m. on black Friday to help hold the retail store together while customers tore it apart.  “The only word I can use to describe it is ‘claustrophobia,’ says Demers, “There were so many people everywhere I turned and I probably folded one table about 20 million times because the customers kept messing-up the clothes.”

Demers continues, “Thankfully most of the customers were nice, with the exception of a few that weren’t pleased because we didn’t have many sales, only buy one and get the second at half price.  I guess people were expecting better deals, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Jazzmine CVitan, a senior at Bridgewater State College, states that she feels the true meaning of Christmas is “Not so much the presents, because the most important thing is to spend the holiday with your family.  It’s a day that’s set aside to be with the people you care about.  But I definitely feel like the holiday is having the latest and greatest gift under the tree.  There’s always that gift the whole world wants, and this year it’s the iPod.”

Jazzmine goes on to recall the 1996 phenomenon of Tickle Me Elmo along with the frustration and patience it took to purchase the hottest item on the market.  People Weekly reported that the toy’s price was $28.99, but due to unexpected demand of this red Sesame Street character, some of the Tickle Me Elmo’s went for $1500.

CVitan says, “I love buying gifts for other people, but I also get nervous that they won’t like it.  I’m the type of person that wraps the present and then can’t wait to see the look on their face when they open it.”

The month of December brings about a great deal of stress for the college student.  Not only are they faced with searching for affordable gifts, but with the fall semester coming to a close this means the additional stress of finals.  Jennifer Berglund, a junior at Bridgewater State College says, “I have trouble enjoying the holidays, because I’m always so stressed about exams that I can’t even get into the holiday spirit.  I also celebrate Chanukah, so there even more stress with the family.  I’m trying to find time to celebrate with my relatives while juggling school and work.  Sometimes it creates more worrying than anything else.”

The holidays also bring pressures to students with loans and bills.  Brandon Franks, a student at the College of Charleston, says that he does not enjoy buying gifts for others.  “I don’t like giving gifts because I can’t afford them.  People give you all these presents and there’s a great deal of pressure to give them a present in return.  Then those who bought me gifts are hurt and upset if I did not get them anything.  It’s just really difficult when you can’t afford anything worth giving.”

Franks continues, “Christmas is supposed to be about being with your family, having a great dinner, Christmas trees, and Christmas movies.  But, my parents told me that when I stopped believing in Santa Claus I wasn’t getting anymore presents.”

For Brandon Franks, the dilemma is the lack of money to buy everyone what they want.  In turn, he calls himself the “Grinch” because he hates Christmas.  This is a student that is struggling to pay rent, much less, buy presents.  There is a certain expectation when you buy someone a gift, because in turn, you expect to receive one from them.

For Julieann Lord, a junior at Bridgewater State College, she says, “Christmas is about family, colorful lights, wintertime, and everyone being together.  I’m always excited to give a gift that I’m excited about, because I love seeing the receivers face light up.”

Lord goes on to say that she does love buying gifts for others, but she states, “It puts a pressure on your wallet.  In college, I can’t work as much as I’d like, therefore, I don’t have as much money.  If I didn’t receive any gifts I probably wouldn’t take it to heart, but it would be a little hurtful.”

CVitan says that she puts a lot of effort into finding the perfect gift for people.  And when she’s asked as to whether or not she would be upset if she did not receive anything she responds, “No, because I have a younger sibling and I’d rather see him receive the presents, especially since I’ve already had the exciting experience of waking up on Christmas morning to see all of those gifts under the tree.  It’s thrilling and I wouldn’t want my younger brother missing out on that.

It is debatable as to whether the commercial and materialistic industry has taken over Christmas, but most people would agree.   At the Silver City Galleria, people are fighting for parking spaces, combating the long lines, and struggling through the traffic to get home.  The Christmas rush is here, and it’s time consuming.

In addition to purchasing presents, what should you do if you do not know for whom to buy?  This is a complication many people face, particularly with co-workers.  According to CNN.com the following gifts would be appropriate for co-workers: CD’s, gift cards, books, picture frames, something for their pet or child, as well as a useful desk object.  Also, instead of gifts the department could cook numerous deserts to bring for a holiday party.
According to Sophie Hrycenko, an employee at Sensata Technologies, she said that usually the group does a collective gift for the boss, but that it’s always been difficult to buy for co-workers.  “I don’t really have any close relationships with co-workers” said Hrycenko, “Everyone has their own life and family that they would rather spend money on.”

This year, she and her co-workers participated in a different way of giving gifts.  Instead of buying unwanted gifts for colleagues, Hrycenko’s department contributed to the less fortunate families.  It’s called Adopt-a-Family, and was designed by the Salvation Army.  Hrycenko’s department received a list of Christmas toys that the children wanted.  “Nowadays it’s difficult to buy for co-workers, because they usually already have everything,” said Hrycenko “It’s more rewarding to buy for children that are less fortunate.”

The whole department bought toys for each child in the family.  The list consisted of everything from rollerblades and patriot shirts.  “Instead of buying for a co-worker that will probably forget about the gift the next day, I enjoyed this more because you’re helping to make a child’s Christmas morning brighter.”

Every year, Hollywood comes out with a new Christmas movie to help celebrate the holidays, and put people into the Christmas spirit.  How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Santa Claus, and Rudolph are all geared to teach people the real meaning of Christmas, which is that Christmas is about family.

The Grinch states, “The avarice never ends! ‘I want golf clubs. I want diamonds. I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored and sell it to make glue.’ Look, I don’t wanna make waves, but this whole Christmas season is stupid, stupid, stupid!”

Here the Grinch does a wonderful job of exclaiming the materialistic aspect of Christmas: the gifts.  He realizes that the families will enjoy their new gifts until they become bored with them.  However, even though the Grinch tries to take away all of their decorations, presents, and feast, by the end of the film the Grinch’s heart enlarges when the Whoville community gathers together and sings around the tree to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas: family.

In addition to making the season brighter, Hollywood creates the feel good Christmas films for many families feeling stressed to come and relax.  Currently at the box office 4 out of the top 10 highest grossing movies are related to Christmas:  Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Perfect Holiday, This Christmas, and Fred Claus.  According to boxoffice.com, Alvin and the Chipmunks brought in a weekend revenue of over $44 million.  Hollywood may try to put people into the Christmas cheer, but they are making a large profit of off the public’s Christmas spirit.  This should prove that Christmas has become commercialized with numerous film makers creating Christmas movies they know will be a success, and bring in great revenue.

Brandon Franks said that the one tradition he has is going to the movie theater on Christmas Eve.  “I have very few family members around,” said Franks “So my parents, my brothers, and I go to see a movie every Christmas Eve.”

Hollywood can be termed hypocritical for making money off of the same Christmas spirit that they are promoting.  Most Christmas movies end with a miracle, which usually brings families closer together.  But after seeing the profits made by each movie, Hollywood does not act on what they preach, but rather, make money off of the deal.
Christmas brings many different feelings this time of year: joy, stress, greed, and thankfulness.  The true meaning of Christmas also brings numerous answers: presents, family, and making money.  The answer depends on who you ask.  However, the reason many stress about money during the holidays is because they want to make it a special occasion for their families.

“I think that Christmas has to be about family,” CVitan says, “Because if you haven’t got that, what is there to celebrate?”