It’s Christmas, but for whatever reason (most likely because you’re Jewish), you don’t celebrate. Or maybe you do celebrate Christmas, but you live in a place where no one else does.
So December 25th comes around and you feel left out. What do you do? Simple–you find a cheap Chinese place, or somewhere similarly non-festive that’s open, and you eat out there. As the tvtropes page adds, bonus points if you bond with the owner despite the language barrier.
This trope is more of a one-liner than anything else, but it pops up here and there. Jon Stewart used it a couple of times on his show, and Brandon Harris Walker wrote his break-out song about it. Also, at Elena Kagan’s congressional hearing for the U.S. Supreme Court, she referenced this trope:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): Christmas Day bomber. Where were you at on Christmas Day?Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: Senator… I assume the question you mean is whether a person who’s apprehended in the United States—Graham:(interrupting) Nah, I’m just asking where you were at on Christmas.Kagan: (laughs) You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.(Laughter from crowd)Graham: Great answer!Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): I could just see that one coming…Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): Because they’re the only places open.
So yeah, there’s actually a fair degree of truth to this trope, as I’m finding out this year. Due to some poor planning on my part, I’m spending Christmas in Georgia, a full 14 days before the Georgian Orthodox Church celebrates it. Yeah, December 25th in Tbilisi is pretty much the same as the 24th, or the 26th.
But it’s actually not so bad. I didn’t eat Chinese last night, but I did go to a local Georgian place with two Frenchmen, an Iranian, a guy from Singapore, a guy from Japan, a Georgian-American, and a global nomad who doesn’t know where he’s from anymore. Today, I went to the Dry Bridge bazaar and bought myself an ornate mosaic chess board. I’ll probaby fix some spaghetti tonight and Skype with my family before going to bed.
So yeah, to those of you celebrating Christmas in the western hemisphere right now, merry Christmas! And to everyone else, I hope you have a great day too!
