OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
January 6, 2014
Volume 24 Number 1
January 6, 2014
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Wayne Chan
Holidays aren’t holidays
without peace, love,
and an inflatable Santa
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eer pressure … It’s the single most power-
ful motivation to get you into the holiday
spirit.
After a whirlwind weeklong trip to Europe, our
family was tired but glad to be home. It was a quick
trip before the end of the year, and now we could
spend the last couple weeks of 2013 relaxing and
gearing up for the New Year.
When we arrived home from the airport and
pulled up to our driveway, I immediately noticed
something that set me back a bit.
In the short week we were gone, everyone in the
neighborhood had put up their Christmas lights
and decorations. Well, nearly everyone.
The neighbors to the right had icicle lights along
the roofline and big, shiny ornaments hanging from
the trees in the front yard. The neighbors to the left
had twinkling lights covering all the bushes and
shrubs and artificial reindeer lined up on the
driveway, some with their heads bobbing up and
down.
In the middle, there was our home … empty and
dark, with only a single light glowing, that being a
lamp in the house — the one I’d put on an automatic
timer to turn on while we were gone. Compared to
our neighbors’ houses, our home looked like we had
disconnected our electric service and decided to live
“off the grid.”
The next morning, as I was walking our dog Ally, I
again noticed the holiday decorations along the
street, but also observed that our home was not the
only one devoid of holiday cheer. Our neighbors
across the street also did not have decorations of any
kind.
Let me just say that I’ve always loved celebrating
the holidays. I love singing carols. I love watching
reruns of all my favorite holiday movies. I love
getting together with friends and family to laugh
and celebrate. But after so many years of stringing
the lights and setting up the Christmas tree, only to
be followed by packing all the lights away and
recycling the tree just a few short weeks later, I
thought, maybe just this once we could skip that
part of the holidays, especially if our neighbor
across the street was thinking the same thing. We
could still be jolly, even without all the bling.
P
The following afternoon, my wife and I attended a
neighborhood holiday party. After catching up with
everyone, I turned to the host of the party and
decided to share my decoration-free holiday plan. I
said, “You know, Mary, we just came back from our
trip. We’re a little tired and I decided I’m not going
to decorate the house or get a Christmas tree this
year.”
There was a hush in the room.
“Oh …” Mary said, with a look of grave concern.
I went on. “I mean, I normally would have put up
the decorations last week, but we were gone, and if I
put ’em up now, I’m just going to take them down in
a couple of weeks. It’s such a hassle.”
The room was silent, but now people were
glancing at each other, as if I had just announced
plans to build a toxic waste dump in my back-
yard.
Mary looked at me with an intense stare and said,
“Wayne, you’ve got to put lights up! It’s the holiday
spirit!”
Twenty pairs of eyes were on me. It was like they
were looking at the man who cancelled Christmas.
Actually, there was one exception. My neighbor
across the street, who also didn’t have any
decorations on his house, was there. I could see him
gently nodding his head in approval, slightly
gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. I knew what
he was thinking.
Come on Wayne. You and me, brother. Don’t give
in. We don’t have to put up any stinkin’ lights. Stay
strong. We’ll get through this together. Semper fi!
We got home after the party, and I hadn’t given in.
We would be fine. We could still celebrate
Christmas without the lights or a tree.
And then, my mom called.
She said, “Wayne, we’ve all decided to celebrate
Christmas at your house this year. We love how you
decorate the house.”
The next morning, I was in the yard with my
ladder, an extension cord, and 14 boxes of lights and
decorations. Our home and our neighborhood,
would all be merry once again.
Well, everyone except for my neighbor across the
street, who glared at me as he pulled his ladder out
of the garage.
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