Tell HN: Merry Christmas

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Holiday greetings on Hacker News turn into a wide-ranging reflection on community, work, and resilience at the close of the year. Commenters from around the world share Christmas and New Year wishes, gratitude for HN as a rare “old internet”-style space, and appreciation for those working on-call over the holidays, while others candidly describe personal hardships and hopes for a better 2024. The overall tone blends lighthearted tech in-jokes with sincere support, emphasizing connection and mutual encouragement.

Holiday greetings and inclusivity

  • Majority of comments are simple seasonal greetings: “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” “Happy New Year,” and variants in multiple languages.
  • Several note they don’t personally celebrate Christmas but still send good wishes.
  • Some emphasize inclusivity: greetings “to all who celebrate,” and also explicitly to those who don’t.
  • A few tie the day to rest, reflection on the past year, and hopes for a better 2024.

On-call work, pagers, and tech culture

  • A recurring joke/wish: “may your pagers be silent,” referring to on-call alert devices or services like PagerDuty.
  • Discussion covers why pagers are still used: better range, reliability, long battery life, and hospital use.
  • Some reminisce about old-school beepers; others note “pager” has become shorthand for on-call devices.
  • One commenter describes voluntarily taking holiday on-call so colleagues can enjoy time with family, with reciprocal coverage during other cultural holidays.

Global and cultural perspectives

  • Multiple comments describe different calendars and traditions:
    • Ex-USSR focus on New Year, Old New Year, and varying Christmas dates (Gregorian vs. Julian calendars).
    • References to Eastern Europe, Ukraine’s calendar change, and various Christian denominations’ practices.
  • People greet from around the world (e.g., Vietnam, Kazakhstan/Almaty, Romania, Malawi, Bali), expressing joy at the global nature of the community.

Personal hardship, mental health, and support

  • Several share difficult years: unemployment, financial struggles, depression, suicidal ideation, bereavement, severe illness, traumatic medical experiences, and caregiving burdens.
  • Others respond with empathy, personal stories of recovery, medication helping, coping via creative hobbies, and practical encouragement to keep going.
  • There is reflection on gratitude, perspective (“others have it worse” vs. its psychological impact), and small daily joys.

HN community appreciation

  • Many express deep appreciation for HN as a “home” or refuge on the internet, sometimes over a decade or more.
  • Themes: high-quality discussion, curiosity, civility, good moderation, fewer distractions than other social media, and a sense of continuity over life’s changes.
  • Some recount discovering HN young and credit it with significant personal and intellectual growth.

Lighthearted tangents and humor

  • Jokes about humbugs, “Merry C:\hristmas,” “happy new fear,” movie and music references, XKCD links, Santa as a quantum phenomenon, and engineering jokes about optimizing oven/wrapping workflows.
  • Small side discussions on phone autocorrect, alternative keyboards, and banner color changes on the site.