Natasha Ali
In the span of 24 hours, you see that the pumpkins have vanished from people’s doorsteps and the spooky limbs stashed in the bushes have been swapped for wreaths and LED lights. Retail stores have now taken down their decorative cobwebs and Halloween-themed candy, and already have their holiday stockings, sweaters, and red-and-green candy canes on display. But arguably, wouldn’t it be too early to be singing Christmas carols, while we’re months away from the highly anticipated holiday?
I’ll start by making it very clear that I am not against the Christmas celebration—in fact, I enjoy the holiday. However, what I simply cannot grasp is the idea of monetizing the holiday, rolling out intriguing offers to get people inside the stores to spend their dollars on Christmas supplies, when it’s still 20 degrees outside.
And I’m not just talking about Christmas. You see it with every existing holiday: Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day—even back-to-school supplies are up in stores faster than students can say “summer.”
Maybe I’m just reading too much into it—perhaps, the purpose of ringing in these seasonal celebrations early is to fill people up with the spirit of the next coming holiday. Maybe some people even enjoy wearing their Christmas sweaters in November to sweat off the calories left over from Halloween. Many may enjoy those classic Christmas melodies and holiday drinks at Starbucks for an extra month.
As for me, I think that premature celebrations take away the significance and uniqueness of the actual holiday. Not to mention that, as humans, we are quite an easy target for conditioning to purchase all the decorations, in order to follow up with the latest trends presented on store display tables.
