You just have a really fucked up view on the holiday. Something psychological. Either your childhood sucked or you had something traumatic happen during the holiday. It is the only reason why you would hate a holiday so much. As if the holiday raped you or something. The fact that you and your girlfriend don't even exchange gifts really says something about you. Lack of social skills or something. You are hung up on the whole buying people things they don't need. There is more to Christmas than buying gifts.
It sounds to me like he received a rock a la Charlie Brown when he was younger.
Anyways, I have to admit that I share the same views, though that may mean nothing because I'm Jewish. Whatever symbolic meaning Christmas may have had was lost when all the heads of the department stores got together and decided "Hey! We can start selling Christmas at the beginning of November!", which only proceeded to get the ball rolling downhill. To advertise, decorate, purchase, wrap, or celebrate anything that's (for) 2 fucking months away is idiotic and shows how commercially crass people are. "Oh wait, Christmas is about the birth of our savior, Jesus whats-his-name." Yeah, it was circa. 5 B.C., anything later than that was for the sake of greedy gift assholes.
The only time I give gifts during the year is on birthdays and the respective parent's day. And guess what? Nobody has ever complained. My holiday budget for Christmas (and Hanukkah)? A whopping $0.
