Shitty Christmas
In case you were wondering, holidays suck away from home. No matter how cheesy your family gatherings get, you will miss them when you’re gone. This is my first Christmas away from home and it sucks. I miss how my dad wakes us up early, and even though we’re all 17 and older, he makes us wait in the hall while he sets up the camera so that when we walk into the living room he can record our reactions to what Santa brought us. Okay, maybe I didn’t miss that. But, when I saw pictures my brother took this morning and knew I missed Christmas, I got depressed. That seemed to be the featured emotion of the weekend.
Christmas Eve - My first day off since Thanksgiving
I slept until noon, which was awesome. Collin took me to some Japanese supermarket that he loves. I bought some sake and some fresh tuna to make sushi later this week. Afterwards I went into the city to walk around and see the sights. I walked through the Village, Soho, and Little Italy where they have Christmas decorations everywhere. Then I took the train uptown where Fifth Ave. was packed with tourists as usual. All of the stores were closed so I don’t know where they were going. Then again, neither did they. I started to get hungry and decided to treat myself to a steak dinner. I knew I really deserved it so I went to Ruth’s Chris, one of the best steaks in the city. I ordered the 16 ounce New York Strip and a glass of Montgras Quattro. I’m proud to say that my dinner cost over $70 and was well worth it. Stuffed, I left the restaurant and walked towards the subway to head way uptown to a friend’s family Christmas party. On the sidewalk a homeless guy started walking with me and asked for some money, even though he was eating fries out of a McDonald’s bag I gave him one measly dollar and kept on. He told me merry Christmas and replied “Don’t forget why its Christmas.” About ten seconds later he yelled up the sidewalk, “Its because of Jesus!” All I could yell back was, “and don’t forget it!” Then I just wanted to cry. In this city that removes every ounce of truth from the holiday, only a guy on the street knows the meaning of the day. That was maybe my favorite moment from this weekend.
I got on the train and headed to 175th street. Vanessa and Theresa from Starbucks invited me to Vanessa’s family Christmas party. It was like no holiday party I’ve ever experienced. I got there close to 10 pm and was an early arriver. Her uncles, aunts and grandmother all showed up later. Things didn’t really kick off until midnight when they opened presents. By this time, Pops was drunk and everyone else was on their way. I sat in the corner and acted like I was drinking a Corona. Vanessa’s parents are Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican so the house was speaking half English and half Spanish. We ate South American cuisine as they opened presents. The classic moment was when her dad unwrapped his mini-fridge and cried. It was a touching moment for all the drunken people in the room. Unfortunately, I was still sober and wanted to leave. A little bit later, Theresa and Vanessa both handed me presents. They didn’t want me to feel bad because I didn’t have a present but it was quite the contrary. There are few things in this world that make me more depressed than a bad gift, and I received two of them at once. Vanessa gave me the movie ‘Night Shift’ with Michael Keaton. There is one good line in that movie and the rest is dreadful. It got worse when I unwrapped Theresa’s favorite book which she bought me, ‘Make Love like a Porn Star” the autobiography of Jenna Jameson. I was ruined. Soon after, at 1:45 AM, I was the first guest to leave the party. When I sat down in the empty subway station, I listened to the rats squeaking on the tracks, examined my gifts and wanted to cry myself to sleep. An hour later when I walked up to my front porch, I noticed Collin’s car right in front of the house with the hazard lights blinking. It looked like he had parked there in a hurry and planned to leave soon because the nose was jutting way out into the street. As it turns out, in the evening he came home for something and meant to go run a quick errand but Collin got sidetracked and forgot about his car. When he woke up the next morning, his car battery was dead and he had a parking ticket.
Christmas Day – Loneliness Sucks
When I woke up, it was 12:30 and that felt great. I had a ticket to see ‘The Life Aquatic’ at 1:30 so I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and headed back into town. The movie was pretty good but not as much as I had expected. Afterwards, I came home and drank half a carton of eggnog. Collin wanted me to come to his mom’s house around nine o’clock to hang out with his friends but I was hesitant after the previous night’s events. After sitting around the house though, I decided to give it a shot. However, my timing was off and I wasn’t able to buy a ticket in time to catch the next bus, so back home I went. That actually worked out well because Collin came home about an hour later. He gave me a pretty sweet Christmas present. I knew he liked to buy things for people and I hoped he wasn’t getting me anything because I had nothing to give. He had been thinking about it for a few months though and it was cool. I unwrapped the heavy package and found every newspaper from September and October that chronicled the Red Sox journey through the playoffs and ultimately to a World Series victory. It means even more coming from a conceding Yankees fan. I was thrilled and felt bad for not buying anything for him. Later on in the evening we enjoyed some wine and cherry pie while we played NHL ’93 on his old Sega we had just hooked up in our living room. I got stomped but it was a blast.
Just as I had always known, aside from the actual story of Christmas, the holiday is about being with family and friends, not about getting gifts and partying like some people do. I may not have been with my family and friends, but they all called me this weekend or talked to me online and that meant so much to me. I was definitely lonely this weekend and the weird turns of events only made me feel worse, but at least I know that next week I will see my friends and family and be able to celebrate with them the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas everyone, and don’t forget it!
