Whatever Happened to Waiting Until After Thanksgiving to Celebrate Christmas?

I realize I already wrote about this topic this time last year, but it bears repeating: Christmas has definitely arrived early this year. A little too early. A week before Halloween, a nearby mall started setting up its annual Santa display. Last weekend, Boston lit up its tree in Faneuil Hall. A few days before that, one of the local oldies radio stations announced that beginning now, it would be playing holiday songs non-stop through December 25. Driving home from work the past few nights, I saw several houses that were already decorated and lit up with Christmas nights.


Now take a look at the famous Norman Rockwell painting on the left. I don't see any tinsel or Christmas trees in that picture, do you?

As Charlie Brown would say, "Good grief!" (and as Snoopy would say, "BLLLLLAAAHHH!") I love a good rendition of Jingle Bell Rock as much as anyone, but only after the turkey has passed through my digestive system. It's bad enough that advertisers are shoving holiday-related promotions down our throats right after Halloween, but the radio station turned me off - and therefore, I turned them off. Maybe I'm just weird, but I can't get into Christmas until at least a day or two after Thanksgiving - it's really that simple. And how frigging bizarre to me that people are actually getting into it and lighting up their houses already. I guess if they want to jack up their electrical bills, it's their business. 


To me it's just another ploy to get the public to shop. It seems people were observing that Christmas was becoming too commercial in the 60s and 70s, but now it's reached ridiculous proportions. Pretty soon, we'll be pulling out the decorations right after Halloween.