Christmas again. The bespectacled, unshaven man looked out of from his Manhattan apartment. Down on the street he could see all the accoutrements of the season; holly, fake icicles made of lights, and wreaths, among other gaudery. Signs on the business below proclaimed their hope that you would have a great Christmas.
Amar’e sighed, and closed his drapes. Returning to his kitchen table he sat down to his meal of takeout Chinese food. A double order of General Gau’s chicken, some crab Rangoon, a dozen egg rolls, and a “Free bottle soda for big customer”. He was hungry, as usual after a game, but there was an emptiness in him that greasy food could not alone fill.
For not the first time in his life, he cursed his Jewish upbringing. Hanukkah was okay in its own way, but he wished that he could be part of the seemingly nationwide cultural bonanza that was Christmas. He knew of lots of Jews who simply eschewed the Christian aspects of the holiday. Actually, when he came to think of it, he knew a lot of Christians who did the same. But for him to do such a thing seemed wrong; his heritage was too strong.
The doorbell rang. Letting free one last greasy belch, he stood up, trudged to the door and opened it.
“Hey Amar’e! I knew you might be feeling a little melancholy at this time of year, so I thought we could watch some movies or something!”
“It’s Christmas. man. Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”
“Unlike most of my atheist brethren I refuse to take part in this Christian bastardization of a pagan celebration. But that doesn’t matter. Check this out!”
Cole Aldrich smiled broadly as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a handful of crappy-looking comedies on VHS
“Is that Dumb and Dumber? Come on in, I got some extra Chinese food and a bowl just waiting to be smoked. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!”