What do Czechs dislike about Christmas?

Not everything is rosy about Christmas and there are many things that people dislike or despise (only 16 % of Czechs said they have nothing to complain about). Put it in a simple way, 84 % of Czechs mind something about Christmas.

From stress to absolute peace

Ideal Christmas is associated with a calm and peaceful atmosphere. But the time that precedes it is far from peace and quiet. Stress and hustle and bustle are the main things that bother Czechs at Christmas (22%). Men and women complain about this aspect of Christmas evenly, but people aged 25-54 are the most vocal critics of this aspect of Christmas. The effort to ensure a beautiful and perfect Christmas for the children, which makes the preparations even more difficult and demanding, often comes hand in hand.

Christmas for sale

The second major objection to Christmas is its excessive commercialization. What bothers people the most is the general pressure to buy an endless amount of gifts. Parents object to the never-ending flow of ads targeting their offspring which demand to get what they saw. Peer pressure on their children is quite enough even without it. Or more precisely the pressure of what somebody in school has “but I don't".

And it's not just the pressure of advertisements, but also an undeclared competition between relatives and friends who will have more gifts under the tree. Somewhat surprisingly, those from wealthier families complain the most about this. It’s apparently more difficult to restrict children by referring to the simple fact of a lack of finances in such families. The commercialization of Christmas in general (and the evanescent meaning of this feast) is mostly objected to by university-educated people.

Next come the overcrowded stores with 12%. The intense, warm touch of strange bodies combined with free-of-charge acupressure in shops during the months before Christmas is "absolutely adored," especially by women and/or Czechs aged 25 to 45. Understandably, people from big cities indulge in this Christmas activity more often.

Less than a tenth of Czechs (8%) mind the early start of Christmas in stores ("already in October"). Czechs over 55 y.o. complain the most. But if you think that those who are bothered by the early start of the Christmas season in stores, leave the purchase of gifts until the very last minute, you are wrong. It's the exact opposite. There is a higher share of those who complain that Christmas in stores starts too early among those who go gift shopping sooner - in September and October. If you just can’t make head or tail of it, you’re not alone!

And if you would like to create an ultra-pleasant Christmas mood for people and raise their adrenaline a little, which also has positive effects on the body by the way, blast carols in the shops. You don’t have to have a very long playlist - 5 songs are the maximum and repeat them on and on indefinitely!