Forget the Bogeyman and say hello to Soviet Santa

Growing up in a recently ex-communist country was interesting to say the least, now I'm not gonna play the victim and say that it was rough or whatever, as a kid as long as you have the essentials like food, clothes and some toys you're good to go because you can make your own fun. But looking back with adult eyes ( many would argue I have the maturity of a 3 year-old :P but whatever ) I realize that it was very difficult for my parents trying to make ends meet in an economy that was going down the toilet and with a lot of uncertainty hanging in the air.

Fortunately things have improve since then even though Romania is still the black sheep of the EU in many aspects but at least it's not as big of a shithole as it used to be.

The funny thing is that some people still have the same habits they developed in communist times, like stay in long cues for essential goods for example ( even though there are no longer shortages like it was the case back then), or expecting all sorts of handouts from the state. The same state that is corrupt to the bone and would tax the shit out of you if given the chance. But such are the anachronisms that people have grown accustomed to.

Christmas before the fall of the Iron Curtain was all about compensating the best you could for the fact fruits and vegetables and other basics things were scarce, not to mention fancy presents. This trauma has remained in the collective consciousness and nowadays people devolve into an orgy of buying as much food and other stuff they don't absolutely need as they physically can. This mass hysteria couple with the hypocrisy of being "kinder" for the Holidays makes them extremely cringe and annoying for me. Why be nicer for the Holidays, why not be nicer all the time ? But the irony is people are more in a rush, more rude and more retarded when the Holidays roll around.

Sure, it's nice to spend quality time with friends and family, and enjoy the gift giving if you have children or the emotional maturity of one :P But for this cynical old clown it's all about the days off and free time to enjoy stuff and people's company. Simple as that :)