Holiday 'Season'

[Raphael]

Ok, I like Christmas as much as the next person but, I mean, come on!  Enough is enough!

It's bad enough the stores start shoving the Hallowe'en stuff out of the way early/mid October to make room for the Christmas crap, but they've already started putting up the outdoor decorations around here. Before Hallowe'en!!

And the radio ads have already started:

"Is your home ready for the holidays? It's only a few weeks away!"  (since when is eight weeks a 'few' weeks???)

One of the local malls is urging their customers to get ahead of the Christmas rush.

Swiss Chalet (a Canadian restaurant chain) has their "Festive Special" being sold now.

Who the heck decided that the Christmas/Holiday "Season" should last longer than our frickin' SUMMER did???!

Heck, I'm still trying to figure out why Dec 25, ONE DAY IN THE CALENDAR, is an entire 'season' now anyway.  October 31st is one day.  July 1st or July 4th...only one day.  Thanksgiving...one day. 

Nothing says the holiday spirit like a 2 month long commercial period.  Oy.



*Back to your regularly scheduled TMNT-L, already in progress* 

[Michaelangelo]

The news people were talking about this too.. our new caster said he refuses to shop at any store that already had their Christmas stuff up.  The lady there with him laughed and said "You're going to be avoiding a lot of stores".

I haven't been out personally so I haven't seen this.  Was busy with the con over the weekend... and really just want to stay home as much as I can right now to catch up on much needed rest.

[Phoenix]

Heh, yeah, I hear ya, Raph. I don't put up any Christmas decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving (the November one *G*). Now, I do start buying gifts early, but that's just so I don't spend a lot of money at one time. But even then, I didn't start doing the shopping until like over the last two weeks when I spotted things I thought others might like.

[Raphael]

Shopping in advance I have no problem with (except for the fact that I never seem to be able to do it *G*). I start looking once Hallowe'en is over with, too.

Heh, and that is so true, Mike. If you avoided every store to put up their Xmas stuff early, you'd shop just about nowhere.

[TurtleNinja]

As Earl would say; "You're preachin' to the choir, here."

I remember as a kid, you didn't see Christmas stuff until mid-November at the earliest. Now you barely get into October and the stores are putting up their trees and decorations.

I love Christmas, too. I have no problem with people buying things early, because the holiday rush is enough to cause a stroke in any decent person. I'm not a crowd person, never have been, and hate going to the stores during the Christmas rush just for normal GROCERIES. It's all we can do to get in there, find what we need, and run like heck out of there again before blood hits the walls.

I do get things early, starting as far back as July-ish when it's show season because I can find really nice gifts for a good price without having to throw elbows, claws, or resort to other forms of violence just to get to escape whatever store I'm in. Plus, nobody's really marketing for it, so I don't have the "picked over" factor to worry about, either.

I did get a few new decorations today, if only because if I didn't, they'd be gone when I decided it was appropriate to look for them. Learned that one the hard way ages ago. :eyeroll: I despise the early marketing, yet if I need paper, tape, boxes, or decos, I have to cave in and get it while I can because most everything gets picked over by early December.

I get sickened at the sight of festive holiday stuff coming out before Halloween. Around here, there's barely a glimpse of anything for Thanksgiving. It's almost like that holiday no longer exists as far as commerce is concerned. And I love Thanksgiving almost as much as Christmas. Late October/Early November is when I really gear up for cooking and start planning for the family meals, so it bothers me to see 2-3 aisles or more of Halloween stuff widely displayed, but scarcely one tiny aisle dedicated to Thanksgiving.

I can understand marketing, but man, it's getting out of hand. Keep the holidays in their proper place and market them within their proper months. Money's going to be made one way or another, but we need not get so darn greedy about it. Besides, does it REALLY take a month to pick out a Halloween costume or buy candy? Does it REALLY take a month to pick out decos and turkey for Thanksgiving?

Does it REALLY take 2 1/2-3 months to buy gifts and trees? Either do it ahead of time or within your limits.

And with that, I need to step off the soapbox and get back to dishes. I've got to deal with a yearly apartment inspection(nothing major, more like a checking of faucets and fire alarms ) and a week of cooking ahead of me.

[Amicitia]

Totally agreed with everything here.

Also having a rather novel problem, now that I'm writing again. It goes like this:

Wow, I'm writing a lot of depressing stories. I will post them around Solstice. That's a good time for depressing stories.

No, wait, that's Christmas time. No one will want to read depressing stories then.

TOO BAD I WILL POST THEM ANYWAY.

 

It's good to have holidays of light in the darkness... but sometimes it's also good just to enjoy the darkness.

[Aignatius]

This Christmas will be interesting, my son will be home on leave for the holidays before he gets deployed to AFG in March.
I'm not into Xmas shopping until it's well under way, but at the local grocery store there were Xmas tree decorations really cheap, and there was a good selection. I know they will disappear quickly, so... I bought some today. 

[soliloquy]

Preaching to the choir here, too!

I used to love Christmas until I worked retail. I quickly learned the holidays bring out the worst in customers.

Halloween is my favorite holiday of all, and it irritates me that Christmas stuff starts sticking its butt into everything starting in October. Let people enjoy each holiday before putting out the stuff for the next one before it's even over.

I try to shop for people throughout the year. If I see something I would like to give to someone I buy it right then and put it away. I get birthdays and Christmas taken care of in advance and I have to say it's easier on my finances to do it that way instead of all at once. Otherwise, if I have to buy Christmas gifts during the holiday season I buy them online and have them delivered to the recipient.

Take care,
Jenn
 

[ResidentEvil7]

Sorry for getting here late. I just got here now.

You think that's all bad, try going to Florida in mid July and you see Christmas decorations up for sale at Target.  I remember visiting my grandmother down there in the middle of the summer when it's like 100 degrees.  In fact we have a store, and it's a real nice small business store where I live that has a year-round Christmas section.

As far as getting ahead of the holidays in the stores; you're right they do push merchandise too early.  You have Halloween costumes and decorations showing up in early August when the kids are still on break; Christmas starting in September; summer clothes in -25 degree February, back to school things just as the kids are let go for the summer.  I'm sick of looking at Christmas stuff when it's 95 degrees and I'm in shorts.  In fact ever hear of thing called "Christmas In July" movie marathons they put on in the middle of the summer?  I like Christmas and it's movies and colorful decorations, but I don't need it shoved all around me for so long to the point that when Christmas gets here, I'm become fed up with it and it becomes less enjoyable.  I find the retail madness horrific.  Ever hear those news reports of people at Target or Wal-Mart getting killed because 10,000 people stampeed over the guy who unlocks the front door?  The deals that people are getting after surviving 3 days in 40-degree weather (camping out) are not really saving much.  They maybe saving just a few measly dollars on a single item.  Lastly I remember years ago going to my local Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving, and by 10 AM, there was like 80+ people for a single line for the check out.  I'm thinking "Oh my god.  If it's this bad at 10 AM, just imagine what it will be like by 3:00 PM?  It's the Black Friday ordeal is why both my parent will never shop on that day.  Too much fighting.

[Raphael]

They no longer hold "Christmas in July" specials because the darned stores have their Christmas stuff out in July now! It's crazy.


I really wish there wasn't such an overlap. When I was a kid, I used to look forward to the Sears Wish Book coming out - that meant Christmas was coming soon. Ye gods, if one used that logic now, they'd be assuming Christmas was around the corner, in August.  Hard to think about buying a down filled parka when the thought of putting on a pair of socks causes the sweat to pour off of you.   

Yeah, the mall below our office tower has the decorations up. I'm sure the music has started. Come December, the choirs will be out in the mall...which is ever so much fun because of the acoustics in the atrium that our office overlooks. You can hear the singers everywhere you go.

I am SO glad we don't have anything like Black Friday here. The post-Christmas "Boxing Day Sales" are bad enough - I try to partake online as much as possible. An overloaded server is far less frustrating than fighting hoards of greedy humans, in person.

[ResidentEvil7]

Well I don't know where you're from to have this.  I'm guessing Canada if you have a Boxing Day sale.  Anyway, here in the USA, they're showing stuff like: Home Alone movies, Jingle All The Way, A Christmas Story, Fred Clause, The Santa Clause movies, I'll Be Home For Christmas, etc. during the middle of summer.  In July I'm not thinking of Christmas.  Rather I'm thinking about riding my bike for many miles, keeping cool, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (speaking of which we had a tornado sighting near here yesterday and I live outside of Chicago, IL), and summer festivals.  My point is that they shove all that holiday stuff so far in advance and so long that when the holiday gets close, you're no longer interested, because they made you sick of it all.  I love Christmas and the whole December Christmas season, but I don't want it to the point that I'm no longer looking forward to it, because the stores and TV did Christmas to death.

[BubblyShell22]

I've pretty much gotten to the point where Christmas and most holidays just don't interest me anymore. I just don't care. And having stuff come out early just makes me more irritated. It's like everyone's just shoving Christmas down your throat, and I hate it. If you want to do that after Thanksgiving (it used to be holiday commericals started on Thanksgiving and usually stopped after the New Year) then fine. But stop doing it so early! I'm not ready for Christmas yet. Heck, I'm not really ready for Thanksgiving, and that's coming up next week.

[ResidentEvil7]

I wish I didn't have to be ready for a holiday season between now and New Years this time around, because my mother is being a psycho- [word that rhymes with "itch"].  It's a very long and very depressing story, but it looks like I will be spending it with my dad's side.  It doesn't look like there's a holiday for me to look forward to this year.  She and I were fighting yesterday and she canceled my plans to go there for Thanksgiving.  Too bad because my grandmother who I haven't seen in 16 years is going to be there, and I won't even being going there.  I like to know how my mother is going to explain to HER mother that her favorite grandson is not allowed to be there this year.  So holiday season things around or not, I don't have a holiday season to look forward to. 

I don't mean this to be sexist, but why are mothers so God "darn" emotional, and whinny with nags?!  UGH!  I hate it when my mother or other mothers I overhear complain and badger over and over and over and it's over stupid nothings!  It's like my mother is just looking for fights.  Again, girls on this site, I'm NOT being sexist.  I'm just having mother-son issues.  Lastly it's too bad my badgering mother had to start something major just in time for the holiday season.

[Hero]

I bloomin' well loves Christmas!

[Raphael]

I don't hate Christmas...I just very very strongly dislike how retail shoves it down our throats for such a long period of time.