Recently, I've witnessed a phenomenon that somehow has escaped my attention for the past 30 years - it could be I've just never noticed it before or maybe this trend has only recently come into vogue or maybe people up north simply don't participate in this particular holiday tradition. I'm speaking, of course, of vehicular decoration.
Now, I am no stranger to Clark Griswold syndrome (i.e. over-enthusiastic Christmas decorations a'la National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), but the idea of decorating my car has never crossed my mind. Perhaps I don't have nearly as much Christmas spirit as I think I do.
I have witnessed wreaths affixed to front grills, colorful lights wound around luggage racks, green garlands and red bows, reindeer antlers and Rudolph noses, bright stars and jolly Santa hats, even a large glowing sleigh strapped to the top of an SUV. As I was appreciating and pondering these mobile monuments to the sparkly goodness that is Christmas, I further pondered the people driving these vehicles and came up with a mental list of who these people could be:
1. A soccer-mom with way too much time on her hands, who was not content in simply decorating her home, her front porch, her mailbox, her church, her child's classroom...etc.
2. Someone who actually lives in their vehicle, thus technically they are decorating their home for Christmas.
3. A husband who was forbidden from participating in the house decorations (see Clark Griswold syndrome above) and, in a fit of protest, decided to decorate the family vehicles.
4. Someone too lazy or too busy to go to the trouble of decorating their house, but thought, "hey, I'll decorate my car instead, it's WAY smaller than my house!"
5. A shopaholic who went a little overboard at Big Lots and had to find a use for all of the extra decorations bought on impulse.
6. Someone who desperately wants to be invited to participate in next year's Christmas parade and is doing a practice run.
I don't know...if you or someone you know has ever participated in the seasonal decorating of the vehicle, I would appreciate any insight into this unfamiliar holiday behavior. :)
1 comment:
This year, I noticed a white minivan in the parking lot that had the reindeer antlers and the red nose on the grill. As I sat down at my desk, I said "Did everyone see that van in the parking lot that is made up to look like Rudolph?" Thankfully, before I could follow up with "Who would do such a thing, and can we have a stake out at the window to mock them," someone hissed "That's Lynn's car!" Lynn, who sits right next to me, and fits your soccer mom with too much time on her hands description.
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