A real-life Festivus ‘airing of grievances’ got a little too heated in Amherst
Apparently, too many grievances were aired.
Amherst police confirmed Wednesday that officers on the night shift responded last weekend after a customary Festivus airing of grievances escalated into a heated argument.
As MassLive first reported Tuesday, police were called outside Antonio’s Pizza on North Pleasant Street, where the dispute had emerged outside among a group of bar-goers—apparently out celebrating the December 23 holiday, which was popularized nearly two decades ago in an episode of Seinfeld.
One traditional aspect of the alternative holiday is the “Airing of Grievances,” which occurs during Festivus dinner and consists of group members confronting each other about specific ways in which they disappointed each other over the past year.
For real-life observers, the Festivus website suggests keeping the grievances light-hearted.
That advice seemingly did not make it to the streets of Amherst. Fortunately, the dispute never turned physical.
According to the police log, officers were able to defuse the altercation and left the group with “some advice on how to handle the season of Festivus.”
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