This is why I'm a Scrooge

Part of the reason I dislike Christmas music is that there are so many BAD recordings out there. The same 10 songs are recorded over and over and some of these artists have sucked the life right out of them. I've heard Christmas CDs that sound like audition tapes for "American Idol: The Christmas Spectacular". The radio stations and department stores make the situation worse by putting holiday songs into the rotation right after Halloween. Even if you enjoy Christmas music like my lunch buddy, you are bound to get sick of it before December.

The other reason I don't like Christmas music is a bit more offbeat. Although most holiday tunes just annoy me with their schmaltziness, if you hit me with one at the right time I will bawl uncontrollably. Here's an example:

Today I was feeling a bit out-of-sorts. I don't know if I was channeling someone's PMS or what, but I've been on the verge of tears most of the day. It was the MIL's turn to pick me up from work. I get in the car and she turns the radio to the "All Christmas, All the Time" station. Some song that I have never heard before this year comes on. I think it is called "Christmas Shoes"; it is about a little ragged boy who goes to the store to buy his mom some shoes but doesn't have enough money. The narrator helps him out and finds out the mom is dying and those will probably be the shoes she will be buried in. The song even has a chorus of little children singing at the end. I heard the song two weeks' ago, so it wasn't like I didn't know the story. Still, this was not the song I needed to hear today. My eyes were welling up with tears and I was leaning my head back ever so slightly to keep them from spilling over. You see, the MIL is a hard-nosed woman who would have loved to tease me about crying over that song. I didn't want her to hear even a sniffle out of me!