Bah humbug.
I have a complaint to make.
The only radio station I listen to rather frequently (when I wake up in the morning and on the way home from work) normally starts their 'continuous Christmas music' program the day after Thanksgiving. This has been the case for as long as I remember.
This year, they decided (for no apparent reason) to start their continuous Christmas music program on November 6. Don't ask me why, since their website says nothing about it.
Now. I comprehend the retailers wanting a big Christmas season. I even comprehend their attempt to get people 'in the mood' early this year. And I can't say I'm innocent in all of this, since I've got a Craft Show this Friday/Saturday. However, starting this continuous Christmas music shit this early is just way over the line.
We already see Christmas decorations and animated garbage at the drugstores for sale before Halloween. We're already receiving the glut of catalogs we'll never order from, and toy books that make it seem like commercialism is the only way to go for Christmas this year.
Bah Humbug!
Thanksgiving just happens to be one of my favorite holidays. In my opinion, it should be one of the more important holidays. It's one of the few non-religious major holidays we have left, after all. And it's getting swept under the rug. It's like when the leaves begin to turn, the big Christmas machine is cranked up for another go and left to run amuk amid the other holidays.
I have a big problem with this. The catalogs come earlier every year, and they multiply every year. We're bombarded with the 'right thing to buy' for everyone in the family, and yet we don't stop to wonder what that person really wants or needs. Kids get toys they play with once or twice, and then forget in favor of cardboard boxes.
We are lost in a swamp of consumerism and cheaply made things we don't really need. When is it going to end?
It's still early enough this year to start planning to make Christmas presents instead of buying them. It's still early enough in the year to put some thought into whatever you purchase or make for those on your list. It's still early enough in the year to realize that money and material things aren't everything, and that the expectation of more and more presents just might not be the way to go. (Reminds me of Dudley in HP, actually.)
It's still early enough in the year to abandon your fascination with what the neighbors have and be happy with what you have. It's still early enough to relax before the Christmas machine really starts churning.
It started so early this year that I'll be surprised if some people don't crack under the strain.
I won't be listening to that radio station until November 27 or thereabouts. Not watching TV takes care of most of the commercials, and I only read the catalogs to have something to look at in the mornings while I eat my cereal. I haven't set foot inside the mall for at least eight months.
And all my Christmas shopping will be on the clearance racks or online in the comfort of my own home. (At least, the gifts I don't make, that is. And I already have ideas for some of those.)
It's not worth it, people. One day is not worth putting yourselves in debt. One day is not worth the stress and the heartache and the long lines and the garbage.
I plan on taking back my holiday season from the Christmas machine. Oh, I'll buy some Christmas presents at the craft shows, but I also plan on making quite a few presents as I wait to move, and being the calmest person around, in general.
Someone has to be.
I have a complaint to make.
The only radio station I listen to rather frequently (when I wake up in the morning and on the way home from work) normally starts their 'continuous Christmas music' program the day after Thanksgiving. This has been the case for as long as I remember.
This year, they decided (for no apparent reason) to start their continuous Christmas music program on November 6. Don't ask me why, since their website says nothing about it.
Now. I comprehend the retailers wanting a big Christmas season. I even comprehend their attempt to get people 'in the mood' early this year. And I can't say I'm innocent in all of this, since I've got a Craft Show this Friday/Saturday. However, starting this continuous Christmas music shit this early is just way over the line.
We already see Christmas decorations and animated garbage at the drugstores for sale before Halloween. We're already receiving the glut of catalogs we'll never order from, and toy books that make it seem like commercialism is the only way to go for Christmas this year.
Bah Humbug!
Thanksgiving just happens to be one of my favorite holidays. In my opinion, it should be one of the more important holidays. It's one of the few non-religious major holidays we have left, after all. And it's getting swept under the rug. It's like when the leaves begin to turn, the big Christmas machine is cranked up for another go and left to run amuk amid the other holidays.
I have a big problem with this. The catalogs come earlier every year, and they multiply every year. We're bombarded with the 'right thing to buy' for everyone in the family, and yet we don't stop to wonder what that person really wants or needs. Kids get toys they play with once or twice, and then forget in favor of cardboard boxes.
We are lost in a swamp of consumerism and cheaply made things we don't really need. When is it going to end?
It's still early enough this year to start planning to make Christmas presents instead of buying them. It's still early enough in the year to put some thought into whatever you purchase or make for those on your list. It's still early enough in the year to realize that money and material things aren't everything, and that the expectation of more and more presents just might not be the way to go. (Reminds me of Dudley in HP, actually.)
It's still early enough in the year to abandon your fascination with what the neighbors have and be happy with what you have. It's still early enough to relax before the Christmas machine really starts churning.
It started so early this year that I'll be surprised if some people don't crack under the strain.
I won't be listening to that radio station until November 27 or thereabouts. Not watching TV takes care of most of the commercials, and I only read the catalogs to have something to look at in the mornings while I eat my cereal. I haven't set foot inside the mall for at least eight months.
And all my Christmas shopping will be on the clearance racks or online in the comfort of my own home. (At least, the gifts I don't make, that is. And I already have ideas for some of those.)
It's not worth it, people. One day is not worth putting yourselves in debt. One day is not worth the stress and the heartache and the long lines and the garbage.
I plan on taking back my holiday season from the Christmas machine. Oh, I'll buy some Christmas presents at the craft shows, but I also plan on making quite a few presents as I wait to move, and being the calmest person around, in general.
Someone has to be.
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