Facing December
Merry December is back here again! But why "merry"?
In Slovene we have an expression, "veseli december" which had a lot of meaning long time ago. But ever since, the December feast has become nothing but another commercial date, all the magic and happiness is gone… Even the weather, accordingly, behaves in a strange fashion and instead of freezing, and we waiting for the first snowflakes in the sky, we don't even get some drops of rain.
I remember the excitement I felt as a child while waiting for St. Nicholas ("Miklavž" in Slovene) and the joy of setting up the Christmas tree on X-mas' Eve (or "božič" in Slovene)… and those times were truly beautiful. And what is happening now? I see the stores filled up with X-mas decoration at the beginning of November! -Ya es navidad en el Corte Inglés- Big lushy X-mas trees in commercial centres attract a mass of people who succumb to the temptation of mindless spending, buying and consuming…
Society is really reaching a new low every day. Where are values, where is the care about others?
All these indifferent, feelingless faces I see every day on the street sadden me. They seem to have lost the point of life somewhere on the way…
I miss veseli december, happy like it used to be. The "merry" part of it, however, vanished god-knows-where and we are currently left with more and more problems. Turning on the radio/TV reminds you of the latest topics: the affair with gypsies, government crisis and shameful real estate register (if I pick just three examples).
Not to forget that the "tolar period" is going to an end, too.
On 1st of January 2k7 Slovenes will join the rest of EU countries that in 2002 decided (and soon after that, their citizens deeply regreted) to go for a common currency. I really don't see the point of Slovenia following that. When we'll have reached the salary standard of Germans, then fine – we could have joined the Euro. But with this misery… you will soon see the truth behind "with Euro, prices won't rise"-like statements… we will have European prices and Bangladesh -for saying something- salaries. I have a bad feeling for euro in Slovenia!
Anyway, I wish to say "merry December" to all of you, try to ignore the absurdness around you for a while -it's not easy, I know- and enjoy it with all your heart!
