If it means enjoying yourself and having a good time, fine. Nothing wrong with wanting, say, a traditional family Christmas or a traditional seaside holiday. No harm in that (unless you can't stand your relatives or you can't swim, of course).
But when people bang on about "traditional marriage" (i.e. a man and a woman, or a breadwinner and a housewife) or "traditional British values" (i.e. what immigrants need more of) or "traditional British cooking" (i.e. none of that foreign muck), I cringe. It's just a sign of blinkered intolerance and inability to accept other people's tastes and preferences.
In any case, a lot of these supposed "traditions" are either being hugely misrepresented or are actually quite a recent thing. Single parent families have always been common. British values have always pillaged values from other cultures. And British cooking has always used foreign ingredients. So where are these much-vaunted traditions that are always being waved in our faces? They're mostly mythical.
But it sounds good, doesn't it? If something's "traditional", it must be based on long experience, tried and tested methods, solid common sense etc. Except that if you look more closely, it's just as likely to mean nothing more than force of habit, sticking to the status quo, and running away nervously from anything unfamiliar.
We could do with a bit less tradition and a bit more eagerness to try something new.
