click to enlarge Sarah Lovett
Downtown St. Louis is so St. Louis.
Full disclosure: I hate St. Louis Christmas.
Despite not being Christian, I’d never frowned upon the holiday living in Ohio. I had other people of my faith around me, and we noshed on Chinese takeout on Christmas Eve.
I can pinpoint the moment my feelings changed. It was 2012; I was in my early 20s and working at the Galleria.
The most wonderful time of the year for retail workers is full of yelling from managers and corporate to sell more, more, more. Customers surge in, mostly whiny jerks. But that didn’t bother me too much.
All my coworkers could talk about was Christmas. Every time they asked my plans, I saw pity in their eyes. But being another faith and living my life differently is not deserving of pity.
On Christmas Eve, my store manager couldn’t stand the idea of me not being surrounded with friends and family, eating fruitcake. She invited me to her house for a proper Christmas — how dare that bitch!
Just kidding. I thought it was a nice gesture. But instead I walked through the snowy Central West End to catch what I recall was the opening showing of
Django Unchained. I was by myself; I got popcorn; it was great.
But Christmas had the last laugh after all when I married a kind-of Christian. For better or worse, Christmas is part of the package.
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