What is Boxing Day?

Hey, sorry I've been an incredibly bad blogger. I was filled with the spirit of Bah Humbug for a bit, which I'm still trying to deal with. I won't subject you all to the sordid details.

Anyway, I had a pretty good Christmas for the most part. And now today is Boxing Day! What is Boxing Day? Well, it's a holiday that's celebrated in England and Canada and has absolutely nothing to do with the sport of Boxing.

According to Wikipedia, here are some theories on Boxing Day:

• 
  It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year. This is still done in Britain for postmen and paper-boys - though now the 'box' is usually given before Christmas, not after.
• 
  In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
• 
  In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
• 
  In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.
• 
  Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds, was captured and put in a box and introduced to each household in the village when he would be asked for a successful year and a good harvest. See Frazer's Golden Bough.

See there is no consensus, kind of like the situation in Iraq!

We don't get to celebrate it, although I think making people come to work the day after Christmas is cruel and unusual punishment. Particularly since no work is going to get done. Right now, it's 8:10 in the morning, and I'm the only one in my group here!

Happy Holidays1

EKM