The month of December is terrible for almost everyone. There is so much stress and so little digits in bank accounts. No one likes spending upwards of a thousand dollars on presents or dealing with the dreaded shopping malls.

However, those who live in smaller towns can get away from the hectic bustle of the shopping district two towns over. Those who live in that shopping district, on the other hand, are stuck there.

The experience of that life through December is most often Hell for us city-goers and here are the top 5 reasons why:

1. Christmas music everywhere.

Whether you go grocery shopping, out to dinner, or even walk down any of the streets, you will hear "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." Sure, it's fitting like the 18th through the 25th. But when the bells start in November, by the fifth of December my headphones never leave my ears. No matter where I go.

2. Traffic. Traffic. Traffic.

You better start leaving 20-30 minutes earlier to go to work, class, or an appointment. Not only are there 18 million people, but 17 million of them do not know how to drive. They are probably all from the small town an hour away from the city and this is their closest place to do any shopping. They are not used to being in any sort of traffic let alone six lanes of it.

3. Grocery shopping is a battle.

Grocery shopping is no longer an hour task. It is now three hours, filled with yelling children running into your cart, and lines at every register because only five of them are open. Lane one has the Coupon Queen and lane three has the women who bought for her entire family plus the family across the road. Even 3 a.m. trips to Meijer are no longer peaceful.

4. It is a two-hour wait for dinner. Any time. Any day.

Oh, you want to go out for dinner tonight? How about you wait three hours with 2,600 out-of-towners? You say Chipotle will do? The line goes out the door and around the building. Well, I guess I will starve myself tonight. Maybe I have some Doritos left in the bottom of the bag because I'll be damned if I step foot in that grocery store.

5. No matter where you work, people are always in a hurry.

Whether you are a server, a taxi driver, or Heaven forbid you work in retail, you can never do your job quick enough. You can't get that size small in half a second like they expect and their soup is taking 5 minutes too long-- but it came out in only 6. You can never make them happy, as they have probably never done your job before. They have no experience and zero patience.

Overall, living in a city during the holidays can be extremely stressful! So be sure to look out, prepare for people (lots of them), and take a deep breathe because it will be over soon. By January 12, it will all be back to normal!