The Day the World Stops

 

So here it is again today. Christmas Day. The one-day the world stops.

Well the world doesn’t actually stop because without spinning we’d all fall off. That would not be very jolly.

Back in the day, the world would stop on Sunday. There were no 24/7 convenience stores. You couldn’t buy a jacket on Sunday. Fast food was a Jetson idea at the time. Sunday was a day of rest (which meant going to church and cooking all day). With the invention of television, there was football.

Then the business community they were missing out on another day of financial opportunity. Still there were laws to bar selling alcohol, appeasing the religious community.

Slowly but Shirley, more and more businesses were open 7-days a week and we all got accustomed to it. Some organizations would still close for the weekend but then the Internet hit and everyone worked on Sunday at home.

Still this one day a year, everything shuts down. It is the one-day that you can drive around and it looks like a ghost town. There are empty parking lots. There are no cars on the streets. Everyone is at home celebrating however or whatever he or she believes Christmas is all about. An occasional bundled person will hastily walk their dog too cold to wave or stop for conversation. Some Christmas days have children playing with their new sleds if it is a white Christmas (though you can’t say that anymore).

As I return feeding the yard buddies on this bright sunny, yet cold day, all is quiet. No traffic sounds. No construction sounds. No tree cutting or leaf blowing sounds. All is calm.

I declare it is too cold to travel for there is nowhere to go and even the Tummy Temple is closed on this one-day a year. Plenty of food, electricity, water, heat and Internet with the one-day I play Christmas guitar music will fulfill my gifts of the day. I will occupy my time with thoughts of what the day the world stops meant and means today.

Though you can’t buy a loaf of bread or return the gifts you didn’t want on Christmas, not everyone has the day off. If you set your tree on fire, you are glad the firemen aren’t on holiday. If Santa isn’t the only one trying to come down your chimney, you are glad the police aren’t taking a holiday. If you drink too much eggnog, you are glad those who wear scrubs are waiting for you. If you want to read the Sunday comics, the newspaper will be on your doorstep because some people do work on Christmas (I know… I was one of them). If you are linked into the cloud (as you are now) you are glad there is someone in the computer room making sure you get a steady streaming adventure.

Christmas Day. The one-day the world stops.