“Computer.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Status, please, on those members of the crew that have been participating in Terran winter solstice celebrations.”
“Working. All holiday-related shore leaves have ended, and the affected crew members have returned to the vessel. All seasonal decorations have been restored to the energy pool via the plasma regenerators. Requests for ‘Santa Claus’ programs on the holodecks have returned to background levels. The Boobyprize is back on ordinary time, sir.”
“Thank you, Computer. But, um … what do you mean by background levels on those holodeck programs?”
“A few of the crew activate these programs at times outside of the Terran solstice, and a subset use them regularly. The psychological profiles of these people point to a ‘Christmas spirit’ in which they believe, and which they think should not be restricted to a particular season. These crew members tend to have above-average performance records, and hence their beliefs and associated holodeck use, though monitored as a matter of course, are not considered matters of concern. There are records of Old Earth that refer to such concepts as ‘Christmas in July’, and to year-round businesses called, for example, ‘Christmas Tree Shops’, that attest to this phenomenon and suggest it has been present among humans for some time.”
“Don’t the Old Earth records also attest to patterns of massive overspending that were also associated with this ‘Christmas’ phenomenon?”
“The ‘Christmas spirit’ profiles are of a different class than the ‘overspending’ profiles. The latter are matters of concern, and are targeted for remediation by the medical staff.”
“Glad to hear it. I understand that ‘debt’ was a living hell worse than any of the horror holos that have been dreamed up. We do well to be rid of it. One last eggnog before we get back to the usual routine?”
“Coming right up, Captain.”