It's Christmas, Who Are You?
by Dawn Whitmore
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While sipping my hot chocolate, I can faintly hear the crooning of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" on the mall's sound system. "Ah Yes! It's Christmas." I say. Peanut (my best bud) and I had decided to take a break from our shopping expedition. Within our conversation about the upcoming holiday, it occurred to me that we all see five different groups of people each Christmas season.

Peanut, my friend pointed out that the most obvious is a Bah-Humbug. A Bah-Humbug dislikes everything about Christmas. Consequently, he or she will usually start frowning the week before Christmas. The image that conjures up in the mind is that of Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol", except most Bah-Humbugs we know don't experience visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. These individuals may have various reasons for disliking Christmas. Maybe childhood Christmas celebrations were not happy for each of them, but instead a time of family feuding. This feuding could have been the event that turned Bah-Humbugs off Christmas and everything associated with the holiday. No matter the reason, every year a Bah-Humbug drudges through yet another holiday that he or she would be extremely pleased if Christmas didn't even exist.

Then let's not forget Jim and Jane Christmas. Jim and Jane belong to the Overzealous Crowd. An Overzealous is easily spotted in any neighborhood for their house is the one totally decked out in lights. A few of these houses make the house in Chevy Chase's popular movie; National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, look tame. True blue overzealots start decorating in October to make sure every Santa and Christmas trinket is displayed in its rightful place. An electric bill for an Overzealous easily jumps to triple digits during the holiday season. A 110% Overzealous will even open his or her home to the public. He or she takes great joy in letting the public wander through his or her home so that everyone can see the decorating didn't stop outside. Each of these homes has more than one completely decorated tree. I have noticed that 110% Overzealots usually do not have small children in their home.

Each individual can usually identify with one of the next two groups, Give-Me's and Givers. We can all think of at least one person we know who is a "Give-Me". Give-Me's each year shamelessly hand out typewritten Christmas lists to every person he or she knows. A Give-Me would not want to waste anyone's time by possibly not getting him or her an item on his or her list. "How thoughtful of them huh" is most people's response. Give-me's have a one-track mind at Christmas; consequently a Give-Me's favorite question: "Did you get my list?"

Giver's on the other hand are an extremely special breed of people. Honestly, Givers love to give, but usually have a hard time receiving. A Giver lives by the motto "It is better to give than to receive." It is as simple as that. One interesting fact about Givers is many of them have a hard time at Christmas. Givers don't have a hard time with the holiday itself, but with the commercialization and materialism of Christmas. So, a Giver is usually torn at Christmas between his or her innate habit of giving and the fact this giving contributes to the materialism of Christmas. Mr. Ed Powers, my husband's mentor, is a true Giver. He would not think twice about giving someone the shirt off his back, but Christmas is a hard time for him. He has seen firsthand the commercialization of Christmas. This absurd commercialization he sees breaks his heart. What can happen to Givers is something that usually brings them immense joy can be saddened at Christmas, but it doesn't stop them from giving. Like Mr. Ed, Givers give year round neither him or his fellow givers need a special occasion to shower their love on people. Givers are who each of them is consequently; giving is what each one of them does.

I reminded Peanut of the last group, to which we both belong: The True Meaning of Christmas crowd. Speaking as a member of the True Meaning of Christmas crowd, I am happiest when I am able to share the True Meaning of Christmas with people. Sharing with people the story of Christmas, sharing about the Babe in the manger and why Christmas is a truly special time of year to me is the heart of my Christmas. A True Meaning of Christmas person does not want to become wrapped up in overspending either, adding to an already incredible nation of credit card debt. Our yards are more likely to have a nativity scene than to have Santas, reindeers, sleighs and snowman. We wear "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" buttons to invite others to find out what Christmas is truly about to us. Some of us even have "Keep Christ in Christmas" bumper stickers on our cars. True Meaning of Christmas people like my best friend, Sondra hold a firm belief that Jesus is the best gift a person can receive anytime of year not only at Christmas. I agree with her wholeheartedly.

After drinking the last of my hot chocolate, I asked "Peanut, ready to call it a day?" Peanut replied "I need to pick up a couple more things." As we started to back to finish our expedition, I suggested to Peanut that we see how many groups we could easily identify. The Bah-Humbugs were the easiest; anyone could spot the frown from a mile away. I spotted a woman definitely an Overzealous dragging her purchases of Santas, reindeers and sleigh as gracefully as someone can when she has six bags! We found it was not as easy to pick out the other groups as we thought it would be. Was that sweet lady over by Belks a Give-Me, Giver or True Meaning of Christmas person? It is important to remember that there is the possibility of a person fitting into more than one category. Upon approaching the van and loading our packages, it was easy for people to know what crowd I belonged to all one had to do was read my bumper stickers.....Jesus is the Reason for the Season and Keep Christ in Christmas.