Christmas, A Time For Gaming Jeer

Ah Christmas, that magical time of year when the environmental conditions languish, hard-working, decent members of society are subjected to the indignity of shopping for food, equipment or utensils that they don’t actually require, transforming shoppers into leaching onto any marketable goods that they can get there greedy little mitts on. But it’s also that unassuming moment of the year that dictates how your brief flexibility from work, including any gaming ambitions you may have. Lets be honest, Christmas, at least the romanticized perception of the holidays, is always tainted by the usual social rifts and segregation amongst your family, and is largely influenced by who devours the most mince pies and alcoholic beverages. You divide your sparse time either calming, potentially volatile confrontations between your Aunt and Uncle (which is achieved by simply…letting someone else deal with it) or restraining the urge to vomit due to the dramatic deterioration of the air quality, collectively produced by the potent forming of the elderly/young contingent, dispersing of their noxious gases that blankets the living room annually with increased potency.

Gaseous emanations as well as family discretions aside, the joys afforded at christmas are evanescent. The pleasantries of the traditional holiday meal, with the succulent Turkey, the wonderfully crispy yet soft potatoes, complemented wonderfully by the lavish drizzling of gravy, as well as my annual attempts to dominate possession over the sage and onion stuffing, are pleasing distractions endearing of the Christmas period. But once these formalities have been and your sustenance has been pleasantly satisfied, you feel compelled to relax, take the opportunity to play a game, potentially one you received as a gift, but family obligations prevent you from doing so, and your left relegated to being entertained by generic animated movies on television, and your mothers vain attempts to competently portray Jaws during charades.

I’m aware of my social ambiguity and how inadequate this time of year can be, and of course I would rather selfishly indulge in virtual exploits rather than converse with some of the less conventual members of my family, but it’s about sacrificing your own selfish needs for a few days, and tolerating your own insecurities as well as others more glaring faults, and just enjoy the car crash that is your families Christmas extravaganza, and let an awkward smile breach your face as you watch your mother dance drunkenly to Janet Jackson, as my step father mentally coaxed her into a straight jacket with the sad shaking of his head.

So yes, all I want for Christmas Mariah, is to be left alone to game, but I’d settle for good food, mild indigestion, the companionship of my girlfriend, and enough booze to forget the sight of my grandfather’s rotund belly.

Are you looking forward to the Christmas festivities? Or eagerly awaiting normality? Let me know what you guys think.