Childless adults shouldn't have Christmas trees. WHAT?

There’s a debate happening over on US news wesite Gawker.com right now. A heated one. About Christmas trees – because apparently, those inanimate, seemingly harmless objects are the latest things pissing everybody off.

In the blue corner, we have Cord Jefferson. (What kind of a name is Cord, seriously?) Cord hates happiness and pretty things Christmas trees. The name of his article is, “Childless Adults Should Not Have Christmas Trees.”

Cord reckons that trees are a “messy pain in the ass” that drop pine needles and such all over the floor. He also says that they’re expensive, a hassle, and annoying to move around – and so you should ONLY consider one if you actually have a child that might get some joy out of it.

(Keep in mind that Cord is based in the US where the great majority of trees are the real ones. Not like in Australia, where we often get creative with plastic, tinsel, washi tape, or even just a few twigs stuck in a pot with baubles hanging off them.)

“The reason Christmas trees are for children is because Christmas itself is a holiday for children,” he says.  “The “Christmas Spirit” is a marketing gimmick, and Christmas trees in contemporary society are for putting presents under.” If you want to give gifts to people, he says, give away – just don’t put them under a tree first.

Now, before you get too shitty with Cord, let’s move over to the argument from the opposition.

In the red corner (which is also decorated with tinsel and baubles and several of those singing Santa Claus toys), we have Caity Weaver, with the article titled “Absolutely Everyone Should Have A Christmas Tree”.

Her main arguments relate to how depressing the Northern Hemisphere winter can be without a Christmas tree to brighten it all up. She points out that Cord is typically a “seasonally nice fellow”, but because of winter, he now spends his time “penning angry diatribes against holiday cheer”.

However – Christmas trees are here to save the day. As only are they ridiculously cheerful, the Christmas tree ritual is also nice and comforting, and the real pine ones smell really good.

“It’s not pointless,” says Caity. “Things that make you feel better—that give a little color to your days; that break up the monotony of everyday life—are not pointless.” And she adds that Christmas trees help to put adults in a good mood. Just like alcohol.

Now. I am the Unofficial Christmas Spirit Captain (UCSC for short) to beat all Christmas-spirity people. I am never happier than when surrounded by festive, sparkly items, preferably with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” playing on loudspeaker nearby. Carols in the Domain is my LIFE.

And being the UCSC, I see a lot of hate towards Christmas. A lot of people who thinks carols are really annoying and that tinsel is ugly and that Christmas lights on people’s roofs are a huge waste of everybody’s time and effort. So I’m not particularly surprised that there are people out there who passionately hate Christmas trees, too.

But you know what? I’m really tired of the Christmas hate. I’m really tired of people like Cord, rampaging away about the tiny, harmless things. And I’m really tired of the negative nature of the Internet – where everyone who ever wanted to rant about something, now has the opportunity to do so.

Yeah, I admit that there are some sucky things about Christmas. The fact that you can’t go to any shopping centres without having to dedicate at least 45 minutes to just finding a parking spot. The fact that we’re becoming more and more consumerist and you can’t even buy anything nice anymore because it’s designed to be used and thrown away within less than a year. The fact that these days, Carols in the Domain is less of a fun community event and more of a reindeer-antler-infested mosh pit.

But no matter how sucky some bits might be – you absolutely cannot beat the good bits. The smiles on people’s faces as you wish each other a Happy Christmas. The TV re-runs of Love Actually and Home Alone. The flickering of bright lights in the typical darkness of your neighbourhood. The reindeer antlers and red noses on cars. The little family traditions that seem so silly and trivial until, one day, they’re gone.

There’s enough to be angry and pissed off about in this life. There’s enough to be sad about. So if something is making someone happy somewhere (exhibit A: Christmas trees), and it’s not hurting anyone… let’s not attack it.

Let’s take our energy away from hating the small things and towards caring about the big things. Let’s embrace the good parts of life and focus our emotions on what we love, rather than the tiny things that piss us off from time to time.

Let’s leave Christmas trees alone. For good. (Or at least until they take on lives of our own and try to kill us all.)

What do you think about Christmas trees? Do you think we should leave the hate for Christmas alone?