My Christmas Extraditions...make that Ex-Traditions...

If a Christmas tree falls in the forest in Ottawa, and I'm not there to hear it, will it still make a sound? Probably. My cubicle neighbour and I were talking about Christmas traditions today. Specifically, he asked me what mine were. I was quick to point out that I really don't have any traditions here in Nova Scotia, but if I were home, the whole holiday would be one big fat Greek...err...better make that Hungarian and Newfie fun-fest. Ever since I can remember, this is how my side rolls on JC's birthday:
Christmas Eve...ahhhh! Almost better than waking up on Christmas Day. It always seems to be sunny on the 24th of December. My Mom and I hook up at around lunchtime and we go to the mall and people watch/window shop. After a few hours, we go to my grandparents' place and chill out, and drink gross liqueurs that my Grandfather enthusiastically puts in front of us ("Nagyon yo, Sandyke!"). It must be ancient Hungarian lore that young children cannot be present when the gifts are being placed under the tree. I'm 32, and I know if I were there this Christmas, everyone would still make me go to the basement until the "special Christmas bell" rang, signaling that I could return. So, I do my disappearing act. We then all stand around the tree (which is only illuminated for the first time on Christmas Eve at dusk), pray, and share how thankful we are to have another Christmas all together. It's quite emotional, really. Once we're done hugging, it's time to get to the presents! Dinner follows, then my Mom drives me to my Dad's place where we say our tearful goodbyes (note to parents who are divorced and who share custody of their kiddies: it's extremely heart-wrenching for the kid(s) to say bye to the other parent at Christmastime. That NEVER goes away. EVER.), and then I join the madness at my father's. There's music, games, food, lots of people, and tons of laughing. And, everyone's family! Imagine that?! A family that has raucous fun together!! The night always winds down with 10 - 15 people camped out on the living room floor watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (we all recite our favourite lines...me and my little bro are particularly fond of the "Later Dudes!" scene...) followed by "A Christmas Carol"...the original one in black and white with Alastair Simms. Then it's off to bed. Christmas morning, I'm always the first one up, and I run into Little Bro's room where I do the annual "steam roller" until he wakes up. We all head downstairs, get our coffee/tea and pastries, turn on Burl Ives' Christmas album, and open gifts. By noon, we're all so exhausted that we crash until dinner. Dinner is madness...in a good way. Again, there's usually 10-15 people, tons of dinner convo, Christmas crackers, and more food than you can imagine. Family games follow the dinner, and that's pretty much it. My family Christmases are so rich with tradition, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
After going through my traditions, my cube neighbour said, "That sounds great! We have traditions, too. But I guess the difference is that I consider home wherever I'm at with my wife and kids."
Then it hit me. Isn't the purpose of tradition to "pass the torch"? To repeat a pattern of thought or action? If my childhood was so much richer for those traditions, why do I think traditions are only bonafide happenings if they're in Ottawa (where clearly, I'm not)? That was my 'aha!' moment. Now that I have a family of my own, it's time to bring forth those same traditions that I loved so much as a child - and still love to this day. I can only hope that in passing on these beloved traditions, and in creating some of our own, that our children's memories will be rich and colourful...and that even after 32 years, they'll want to keep coming back.

Lest We Forget...

We bid farewell to family and friends,

In hope that someday we'll live as brothers.

I pray for the day all wars will end,

and my fate shall be spared to others.

It was the war to end all wars,

That is what they said.

After all these years,

Canada still counts her dead.

I was a true Canadian, 

I wish you could see,

All I ask  is,

Remember Me.

In war I fought and died,

I thought it did cease.

Now under the Blue Beret,

I die for World Peace.

Like Michael Ralph, John Ternapolski,

Plus the thousands of soldiers before.

On November 11th Remember

I died for Peace not War.

I was a true Canadian,

I wish you could see.

All I ask is,

Remember Me.

In memory of  MCpl John William Ternapolski

from www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9556/Mil.Poems.html

Thank you to all soldiers for protecting my freedom.

Out of Service

We've all experienced it. You attempt to purchase goods or services, only to by met by very poor customer service. I've been on the receiving end of everything from feeling like I'm intruding on someone's social time, to apathy, through to pure anger. I've always tried to be of the mindset that you never know what kind of day the customer service person has had, or what their familial situation is; but you know what? Those days are quickly coming to an end. NOTE TO CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENTS: your job is to deal with the public!! Yes, it sucks sometimes, believe me I have many years of first-hand experience, but if you don't like it, quit!
It boggles my mind that with our economy in the state that it's in, the big companies are doing anything less than treating customers like royalty.

My most recent harrowing experience was this afternoon. I went to one of the "all-in-one" department-type stores. You know the ones...you can can buy snow tires, ketchup, a crib, eggs, or prescription glasses all in one place. I had purchased about 15 items. One of the items was marked down an additional 50% off of the last ticketed price. One of the other items I produced a coupon for, handed it directly to the cashier and mentioned that this item was $2.00 off. She nodded and thanked me. And then didn't mark it down! Nor did she give me the addition 50% off the other item. I asked her about the correction, and she directed me to t he Customer Service counter. I had to go through the same song and dance there, and then both issues were resolved. The point is, that it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
The funniest story I've experienced so far was this past January. I went to one of the big-box electronic stores, and was paying for some movies. I asked the cashier if the new tax rate had been programmed into the computer system (our tax rate dropped by 1%). She looked at me with a blank stare and said she didn't know. So, I naturally asked her to check, I mean 1% is 1%, right? She said she didn't know where to check, and that she just did whatever the computer told her. I wanted to ask her if the computer could ask her to go fuck herself, but resisted. Anyhow, a manager came by and answered me immediately. As front-line staff, how could you not know something like that?
Bad customer service is unfortunate for many reasons. One of them is that when you do get good service, you kind of think, "What is wrong with this person? Why are they so creepy?" Case in point, I went to Second Cup last week, and the barristas seemed genuinely happy to serve me. I thought it was weird, but they looked in my eyes, smiled and said, We hope you really enjoy your latte. Thanks for letting us serve you!" WTF?? I quickly looked around for hidden cameras, and checked my latte for loogies. Nothing. Just good old fashioned customer service. Isn't it too bad, though, that I couldn't just appreciate being served by friendly people? That I assumed the worst...a practical joke, or vindictive barristas?

In closing, I'd like to share my most favourite commercial in the entire world. It's the NicoDerm crazy flight attendant, named 'Deb'...if I'm ever feeling down in the dumps, I surf on over to YouTube, and LMAO. The link is posted at the end of this entry. Enjoy, but also keep in mind that the reason it's so funny is because we've all been on the receiving end of wonderful airline "service".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-g8Rq9_SM