Before I get to deep into this, I want you all to know I love the Christmas holidays. I love the time with family, I love the religious aspects of it, basically everything that goes along with Christmas. However, there are some aspects that I do not like.....so I will share my thoughts and opinions today. I think we should have a huge AT discussion about this. NO CLIFFS TODAY FOLKS.
Today is November 9th, 2007. It is 82 degrees outside......and the grass is still green. I still run in my shorts and take my dog for walks.......I am enjoying BBQ's, outside stuff, work, etc......the furthest thing from my mind is Christmas.....until now. Why? Let me explain.
Today I turned on the radio....was flipping through and here is Dallas we have a station called 103.7 Lite FM (http://1037litefm.com/pages/82...pe=4&contentId=204262) - easy listening music. Sometimes they have great music on...sometimes they don't. However, to my surprise (and no telling how long this has been going on) I hear Christmas music. Again, today is 11/9/2007. To ask the question nicely.....How insane is this?
A few weeks (maybe a month or more) back I decided to build a new flower bed in the backyard for the Mrs. It certainly lacked color and I thought it would be nice. So I load my dog in the Jeep and drive to Lowes. I walk in the front door and see bag's of Rye grass, fertilizer......and right to the right of all of this, I see 6 employee's taking about an 1/8 of the building (just inside) and turning it into the "Christmas" section. This was back at the end of September going into October. They had lights, air decorations.....all the festive decorations you USED to find only weeks before Christmas. Now you can purchase all of this 3-4 months prior! How insane is this?
Wal-Mart - Meh.....they started the same routine as Lowes but only a week or two earlier. However, isn't Wal-Mart the type of store who doesn't allow their employee's to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. I can certainly tell you a story that made me NEVER step foot in a Wal-Mart again. I am 24 now, but a few years back (maybe around 19-20) my family and I did the whole "salvation army bell ringer thing". This is something we did a couple of years prior. However, the last year we did this, is something I hope no one has to go through. Just week prior to what I am about to tell you had been nice, cool, casual days of ringing the bell. Felt great to be doing this with family. This particular day (and was our last day to be doing this anyways) was extremely cold and rainy..it was miserable! We were out there for about 4-5 hours (my mother with her sisters on one door) and my cousins, my brother and myself on the other. The manager of the store (which everyone in the town hated even before this) came out and demanded that 3 of the 4 of us leave because it was considered "loitering". He was extremely rude about it...but I calmy explained to him that we had been doing this for weeks and we had seen it done the same way by many others the same. He got extremely pissy and was persistent on interrupting me. Things got ugly and we got into a shouting match....where he proceeded to say he would call the cops and have me arrested. Remember, the last time I checked, salvation army bell ringers were "festive" type people and donated their time to do something extremely cool. As we were arguing.....many customers crowded around and begain to boo the manager - some saying they would never shop again. The manager began to threaten that I was "distrubing peoples shopping experience" and yadda yadda. To make a long story short, this made the papers (not the news for some reason) and the town was in an up-roar and wanted this manager gone. Today, 11/9/2007, he is still there.....but I am long gone. How insane is this?
Black Friday: Do I really need to go into this? How insane is this?
The Wal-Mart thing was more or less a rant, but back to subject here. Do you think we as a society start Christmas way too far in advance? September? Doesn't this kill the spirit for people when the actual holiday rolls around? Remember, I love Christmas.....it's my favorite time of the year....but I sadly see that possibly changing because the spirit is no longer there when the time comes around. After several month prior to of music, movies, shopping, decorations....when the time actually comes....im so sick of it all that (over the past year or two) my Christmas's (other than my religious beliefs) have been pretty crappy.
What about you? I would love to hear some rants, raves, opinions, etc. Let the discussion begin!
How insane is this?
How early is too early?
Am I being stupid about this?
Today is November 9th, 2007. It is 82 degrees outside......and the grass is still green. I still run in my shorts and take my dog for walks.......I am enjoying BBQ's, outside stuff, work, etc......the furthest thing from my mind is Christmas.....until now. Why? Let me explain.
Today I turned on the radio....was flipping through and here is Dallas we have a station called 103.7 Lite FM (http://1037litefm.com/pages/82...pe=4&contentId=204262) - easy listening music. Sometimes they have great music on...sometimes they don't. However, to my surprise (and no telling how long this has been going on) I hear Christmas music. Again, today is 11/9/2007. To ask the question nicely.....How insane is this?
A few weeks (maybe a month or more) back I decided to build a new flower bed in the backyard for the Mrs. It certainly lacked color and I thought it would be nice. So I load my dog in the Jeep and drive to Lowes. I walk in the front door and see bag's of Rye grass, fertilizer......and right to the right of all of this, I see 6 employee's taking about an 1/8 of the building (just inside) and turning it into the "Christmas" section. This was back at the end of September going into October. They had lights, air decorations.....all the festive decorations you USED to find only weeks before Christmas. Now you can purchase all of this 3-4 months prior! How insane is this?
Wal-Mart - Meh.....they started the same routine as Lowes but only a week or two earlier. However, isn't Wal-Mart the type of store who doesn't allow their employee's to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. I can certainly tell you a story that made me NEVER step foot in a Wal-Mart again. I am 24 now, but a few years back (maybe around 19-20) my family and I did the whole "salvation army bell ringer thing". This is something we did a couple of years prior. However, the last year we did this, is something I hope no one has to go through. Just week prior to what I am about to tell you had been nice, cool, casual days of ringing the bell. Felt great to be doing this with family. This particular day (and was our last day to be doing this anyways) was extremely cold and rainy..it was miserable! We were out there for about 4-5 hours (my mother with her sisters on one door) and my cousins, my brother and myself on the other. The manager of the store (which everyone in the town hated even before this) came out and demanded that 3 of the 4 of us leave because it was considered "loitering". He was extremely rude about it...but I calmy explained to him that we had been doing this for weeks and we had seen it done the same way by many others the same. He got extremely pissy and was persistent on interrupting me. Things got ugly and we got into a shouting match....where he proceeded to say he would call the cops and have me arrested. Remember, the last time I checked, salvation army bell ringers were "festive" type people and donated their time to do something extremely cool. As we were arguing.....many customers crowded around and begain to boo the manager - some saying they would never shop again. The manager began to threaten that I was "distrubing peoples shopping experience" and yadda yadda. To make a long story short, this made the papers (not the news for some reason) and the town was in an up-roar and wanted this manager gone. Today, 11/9/2007, he is still there.....but I am long gone. How insane is this?
Black Friday: Do I really need to go into this? How insane is this?
The Wal-Mart thing was more or less a rant, but back to subject here. Do you think we as a society start Christmas way too far in advance? September? Doesn't this kill the spirit for people when the actual holiday rolls around? Remember, I love Christmas.....it's my favorite time of the year....but I sadly see that possibly changing because the spirit is no longer there when the time comes around. After several month prior to of music, movies, shopping, decorations....when the time actually comes....im so sick of it all that (over the past year or two) my Christmas's (other than my religious beliefs) have been pretty crappy.
What about you? I would love to hear some rants, raves, opinions, etc. Let the discussion begin!
How insane is this?
How early is too early?
Am I being stupid about this?