As an immigrant in a Protestant country, I have always had mixed feelings about Advent calendars. They were not big in Spain by the time I left (or maybe I was not in the age range that would appreciate them); I thought they looked more like a trick to sell more chocolate (the go-to gift of lazy people), but I tolerated them and eventually started to appreciate them, especially those that have a little bottle of Scotch (gift idea, everyone!).

Box of Tony’s Chocolonely Countdown Calendar

I then started a family, and it was my turn to buy them for my kids (always on the last day of November or the first day of December). But this year I got a really bad (not unexpected) surprise. I was perusing the calendars in a supermarket when something caught my eye: an Advent calendar from a well-known Dutch (of course) brand of chocolate products in bright red with the words “countdown calendar” written on it. Countdown calendar!?! What the fuck is that? It is either a very good product which is marketed for any occasion that deserves a countdown or yet another victory against a very self-conscious Western society which has decided that it is better to abhor our customs and traditions for fear that an intolerant minority may get upset. My guess is that it is the latter.

With astonishment, I then saw another of these Advent calendars branded “Festive Selection” by a famous Swiss mining and chocolate-making company. It could have been an Advent calendar or a tin of cookies. Thankfully, there were other brands that had no problem indicating they were selling Advent calendars.

This is in line with other practices we have seen over recent years in which public personalities and companies wish us “Happy Holidays” or a “Festive Season” instead of “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending the usual suspects. I wonder when they will start using the term “diet season” instead of Ramadan for fear of offending Christians. Oh wait, we do not get offended by other practices or beliefs.

I do not understand why people who may feel threatened or insulted by daily things such as a piece of bacon or a Christmas card insist on living among us and try to change our traditions instead of going to other places in which such abhorrent practices are not only not allowed but punished swiftly so people learn. Well, I do understand; the quality of life here is much better and we let them.

I do not expect any of us here would allow a guest in our home to start moving furniture around, knocking down walls, or changing service suppliers, but we as a society are doing that very same thing with the traditions that have forged Western civilization and taken us to a living standard that the rest of the world can only dream of. And by letting these people impose their beliefs in the countries that welcome them, without asking for their tolerance, we are going down a slope that will end in our countries looking more and more like those they come from, and not the other way around.

But we will all be happy because nobody is pointing at us and calling us fascists, racists, or any other -ist term trending at the moment.

Lalo dixit