I hate the holidays. So does anyone I know who lives in poverty, including
the children, who are torn by the tension produced from the excitement of
their peers, advertisers' unrelenting hype and trying to accept their
circumstances and be supportive family members.

As a single woman living in poverty in a rural community, what I dislike the
most are the assumptions:
- that everyone celebrates something at this time of year,
- that everyone wants to receive gifts, regardless of whether they celebrate
something at this time of year,
- that everyone should give gifts, regardless of whether they celebrate
something at this time of year,
- that everyone should 'do something' to celebrate, regardless of whether
they celebrate something at this time of year,
- that everyone can get around at this time of year regardless of the 
transit system going on holiday.

What makes it really hard is the deadening. It's as though small communities
like mine, over the course of the holiday frenzy, have sucked themselves dry
and stopped breathing. All stores and offices close for at least three days
and some for two weeks, the sounds of human industry fall silent. It's like
everyone, the community itself (including Internet communities), dies or
goes away. And so those left behind, the ones who don't or can't play the
holiday game, feel the stamp of 'outsider' that much more starkly.

Ocean, WISE Coordinator
http://www.wise-bc.org/

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