December 23, 2025
What holiday moment lasts three times longer than it needs to?
For me, it is saying goodbye at the party.
You have already spent the entire day with these people. You have talked, eaten, laughed, and caught up. Everyone is tired. Everyone is full. And yet, when it is time to leave, the goodbye somehow becomes an hour long ritual.
There is the announcement that you are heading out. Then the follow up conversation. Then the doorway pause. Then the driveway conversation. Each step feels polite on its own. Together, they feel exhausting.
This is not really about manners. It is about discomfort with endings. Clean exits make us uneasy. We worry they look dismissive or rushed. As if leaving efficiently somehow means the moment did not matter.
But meaning does not disappear when you leave on time. The connection does not vanish. The gathering does not retroactively become less important. Sometimes the most respectful thing you can do is acknowledge that the moment was good and let it end.
I am curious what your answer is. Maybe it is the meal. Maybe it is the gift exchange. Maybe it is the family conversation that keeps looping long after everyone has stopped listening.
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