Semi-Charmed Life

Christmas and Diamonds

Is it just me or does anyone feel like Christmas is a secular holiday? My family has never traditionally celebrated Christmas, but when I was younger it was always one of my favorite holidays. I never received a lot of gifts, but Christmas in New York always felt enchanting.Maybe it had to do with the movies they play on tv around Christmas time ("You'll shoot your eye out!"), or maybe it's the lights and decorations that start popping up seemingly earlier and earlier each year. Or it could be that the positive feelings I associate with Christmas is really because of the days off from school I used to get.  17 years of school is sure to develop some type of Pavlovian response to Christmas.

Anyway. There was a conversation about who celebrates Christmas with their families, and although there was a mixed response, it seems Christmas is kind of a big deal to the majority of my friends. Not to say I'm shocked, but something one of my friends said struck me.

"I feel bad for you poor orphan kids that don't celebrate Christmas."

He was kidding, but that got me thinking. Is Christmas something that I'm going to celebrate as a tradition with my own family, when the time comes? Would I be depriving my children if I didn't give them the whole Christmas experience? Some of my friends said that there parents only started celebrating it annually once they had kids. Would it be wrong of me to celebrate Christmas purely for the "festiveness" of the holiday?

Which leads me to a similar subject . . . diamonds.

I hate them.

This article is nearly 28 years old but it is still very relevant and sums up everything I hate about them. If you don't know much about the insidious diamond cartel, this is a fantastic read to bring you up to speed. Fair warning though . . . it's a very long article.

If you're too lazy to read it or already think you know my reason, let me say that it is not because of blood diamonds. I view conflict-free diamonds with equal contempt. I won't go into a long diatribe about how diamonds are evil and will simply say that diamonds represent the height of superficiality.

So what the hell does this have to do with Christmas anyway? Well some weeks ago I was talking to a friend about engagement rings and what not, and he told me he what he would get if he was to propose. I was surprised because I recalled him saying in the past that he would not get a diamond for various reasons. I asked him why the sudden change of heart and his answer made a lot of sense. He said that if he were to get engaged, he would not want to subject his future wife to the pettiness and mockery of others. It would just be asking too much on her part.

This made me think. Marriage is not even close to being on the horizon for me, but it's something I think about from time to time. It's probably naive of me to think that I would be able to find a woman who would not want a diamond, but in the off chance that I do, would I want to subject her to the kind of secret ridicule that can only follow after something terribly embarassing has happened to someone?

I'd imagine conversations going like this:

"Oh my God congratulations! Let me see the ring"

"Thanks!" [shows ring]

"Oh . . . it's nice."

Would I want to subject her to that? To the words that aren't said, but heard between the "Oh" and "it's nice"?

Anyway . . . just some thoughts.