{"id":22011321,"date":"2017-01-07T21:36:01","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T21:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usustatesman.com\/?p=22011321"},"modified":"2017-01-07T21:36:01","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T21:36:01","slug":"column-the-airing-of-grievances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usustatesman.com\/column-the-airing-of-grievances\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: The airing of grievances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For anyone who has seen the popular tv show \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d Festivus is a holiday easily recognized by an aluminum Festivus pole, an airing of grievances, feats of strength and the like. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those who haven\u2019t been witness to this holiday before are perhaps a bit confused as to what all of this entails. I was too until my family decided to start celebrating it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our version of Festivus differs slightly from the \u201cSeinfeld\u201d version, as we adapted it to fit our own lives, but many of the things stay the same. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For us, it\u2019s an antithesis holiday amidst the swarm of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year celebrations. We don\u2019t get ready for the day, we don\u2019t do any sort of presents and we don\u2019t even attempt to have a cheery attitude. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cairing of grievances\u201d takes place throughout the entirety of the day. It\u2019s basically just whining and ranting about anything and everything that bothered you throughout the entire year. The idea is to get everything off your chest all in one day and then spend the rest of the year completely free of complaints and soapbox monologues. It sounds pretty good in concept, but it generally ends up with everyone just screaming \u201cI have a grievance\u201d at the top of their lungs and then voicing some petty complaint they thought up on the spot: \u201cSo-and-so didn\u2019t set the table correctly!\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s-her-face is eating all of the potatoes!\u201d and the like. There are also a few larger grievances shared in regards to familial issues or work problems, but those are definitely the minority. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another large part of Festivus, or at least my family\u2019s interpretation, is the public humiliation of any new member. Boyfriends, neighbors, family members, or friends attending for the first time are required to undergo the \u201cFeats of Strength.\u201d This simply means that you have to do some sort of physical challenge that we think up on the spot and all agree upon. For some, this has meant push-up challenges, for others arm wrestling. It is really just a spur of the moment decree that must be followed or else, heaven forbid, there will be even more grievances to air. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Festivus is held on the Sunday directly after Christmas. It\u2019s accompanied by a large turkey dinner \u2014 much like Thanksgiving \u2014 and various card or board games \u2014often inappropriate ones. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is generally held at my house, and attended by my family, a family of our close friends and various friends and spouses. Altogether there are generally about twelve of us. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Festivus is a good holiday for my family because none of us are religious. I\u2019m not really tied to the regular celebrations based on any religious affiliations and it\u2019s kind of nice to have a holiday directly relatable to myself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I definitely look forward to Festivus every year and my holiday celebrations wouldn\u2019t be the same without it. It\u2019s a nice chance to get everything off your chest before the new year begins and let go of everything you\u2019ve been grudging about for months all wrapped up in a nice little package of yelling, fighting and just plain old catharsis. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 savannahnlund@aggiemail.usu.edu<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">@savannah_lund<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For anyone who has seen the popular tv show \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d Festivus is a holiday easily recognized by an aluminum Festivus&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":22011322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,20,36],"tags":[131,3163,3164,341,45],"class_list":["post-22011321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-features","category-student-life","tag-aggies","tag-festivus","tag-seinfeld","tag-student-life-2","tag-usu"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - 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