Don’t forget Godzilla
If you don’t know me well, it may come as a surprise to learn that I have an irreverent side that likes to rear its head from time to time and challenge tradition. Especially traditions that either don’t make sense to me, or are taken just a bit too seriously.
My first husband had this tradition of setting up a “village” under the Christmas tree every year. Apparently, he’d done it since childhood so it was ingrained. He’d buy not only a couple of new buildings each year, but more accessories, too, ever adding to his collection. He’d carefully unpack each piece from its original box and set it up under the tree, arranging the “town” just so, with churches, stores, libraries, you name it, we had it. Little plastic people dressed in their plastic winter garb, plastic pine trees with fake snow, “snow banks” of cotton stuffing… we had the works.
Now, I’m not an evil person. No really, I’m not. It’s not that I didn’t like the village under our tree. It was pretty and all, I just couldn’t keep my irreverent side from stomping all over my otherwise sweet personality when I saw how seriously my then-husband took it all. Let’s just say he rarely appreciated my sense of humor, never less than at Christmastime when I suggested we add a giant Godzilla perched just beyond the fake snow bank, headed toward the village and its unsuspecting residents.
When I realized the Godzilla idea wasn’t going to fly, I suggested we add to the village a flying saucer that has landed in the town square, complete with little plastic Martians pointing their ray guns at the villagers, ready to abduct as many as possible. Nope, that idea wasn’t a winner, either.
It’s really no mystery why my first husband and I ended up divorced. I hope that every Christmas since our merciful parting, he’s enjoyed creating his village under the tree with appropriate reverence, and in peace.
P.S. Turns out I’m not the only one with a warped sense of humor. When I told my co-workers about my Godzilla-in-the-village idea, they gifted me with a big stuffed Godzilla that year. I came into work one morning and he was sitting at my desk. We all howled with laughter! When we finally composed ourselves, we proceeded to create a photo i.d. badge for Godzilla, just like we had, complete with a company-branded lanyard. He sat atop my cubicle from then on.
