Following
a weekend of sugar shock and house cleaning it would have been nice to enjoy a
simple fall day before the last vestiges of color seeped from the fall foliage.
A day without holiday anticipation, decorations, expectations, or
advertisements. That is the way that things used to be. The week following
Halloween was a time when we were given a seasonal reprieve, a few days to rest
before turning up the obnoxious advertising to eleven.
Well,
that was then and this is now. There were a few hours in the middle of the
night when the commercials stopped and the decorations in the stores were taken
down. However, by the time we got out of bed and turned on Sunday Morning, the Thanksgiving,
Black Friday, and Christmas promotions began trickling across the airwaves (keep in mind that Hanukkah commercials will begin the night before). And,
in the stores, the Christmas decorations were immediately put in place where
the ghouls, goblins, witches, and vampires once dominated the shelves. Santa was
back and he really wasn’t waiting any time this year.
It seems
like I find myself saying this every year but the holidays keep getting earlier
and earlier. Heck, even when logging on to Amazon, they are already starting to
promote their Black Friday sales… let’s hope they are better than their summer debacle.
On top of all this, stores are starting to come out with their holiday, i.e.
Thanksgiving, hours. Better not eat any turkey this year or you won’t have the
energy to beat everyone to get the good stuff. And, if you do enjoy a nice feast,
you might want to consider moving everything to lunch time as many stores will
be open by dinner this year.
It
really is a shame that the marketing for all these holidays has gotten so out
of hand. It is a beautiful time of year, my favorite season, when the weather
is usually warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough that you appreciate the
moments you spend walking among the fire falling from the trees. It is the
last moments that we have to enjoy being comfortable outside before the
bitterness of winter descends. It seems as though the spectacular season beyond
the windowpane is no longer enough for most people… they need to focus on what
they can buy, what they can look forward to, and what they want to get rather
than enjoying the present which doesn’t cost them a thing.
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