There is a major holiday in November. People might get the day off work and then they go and (over)indulge on food. It is called Thanksgiving. Ever heard of it?
I don’t think that stores around here remember it exists. They started with Christmas decorations and music right after Halloween.
Christmas stuff tends to make me cranky anyway but this is a direct violation of “for everything there is a season.”. If you are going to take on Ecclesiastes (and the Byrds) you better have a better reason than tricking people into shopping earlier.
The last straw for my barely-there tolerance was the appearance of bell ringing beggars over the weekend. Nothing in the whole cranky-making season makes me crankier than them. Now they are extending their reign of terror?
It is time to take a stand. This is the season of pumpkins and over-the-river-and-through-the-woods – not flashing lights and overspending on crap no one wants. Unfortunately this is where my rant comes crashing up against reality. Thanksgiving isn’t a major marketing opportunity for anything but pumpkin pie and turkey and cranberries. The Christmas market juggernaut ran it over.
(Yes I said Christmas shopping instead of holiday. As a guy told me last year, “I hate it when cashiers wish me happy holidays. If I’m buying a bunch of useless crap obviously I’m celebrating Christmas instead of one of the more meaningful holidays.)
