Friday, November 7, 2014

Can we please have a moratorium on Christmas...

At least until after Thanksgiving?

I don't care how incredibly cute the John Lewis 2014 Christmas advert featuring Monty the Penguin is...


(And it is insulin-injection-needed-stat cute.)

I do NOT want to see advertising for Christmas on November 7th...

When I beheld the ad above and this Christmas spectacle at Stamford Town Center, featuring Santa Claus, several elves, and Christmas music being blasted from speakers...






















And I especially do NOT want to start celebrating Christmas on November 1st (when the Crowne Plaza in New Orleans put up its Christmas decorations), or on November 6th (which also happens to be my birthday and when John Lewis published its Monty the Penguin Christmas advert), or pick your date in November!

Nor do I want to celebrate Christmas (or Hanukkah, for that matter) on Thanksgiving. (DO YOU HEAR ME, RETAILERS? Apparently not, except for you, Nordstrom and Costco. For which I thank you.)

Can't a girl enjoy the fall, and some turkey and stuffing, in peace, without feeling pressured to shop? (I'm pretty sure the mas in Christmas does not stand for mas shopping.)

I am so exasperated, I am thinking of starting a petition on Change.org. But before I do, I would love some feedback from all of you. Do you think I'm a Scrooge and that we should start celebrating Christmas as soon as Halloween has ended? Or do you think, like me, that the Christmas season should not begin until December 1st? Please let me know via a (respectful, non-abusive) comment.

I wish you a merry November.

6 comments:

Dave S. said...

Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, inoculate yourself with this.

Dave S. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave S. said...

OK, sorry, here is the link in question. Apologies for the clutter.

J. said...

The clutter is not what you should be apologizing for, Dave S. :-/

Fact Lovin' Liberal said...

I take a kind of deconstructionist/critical legal studies view of all this, and believe that the relentless Christmas consumerism is doing more to further the war on Christmas than anything else that is happening in the world. The longer that “Christmas” is celebrated, the less people like it, or even care about it. It just becomes one big schmear of noise, tinsel, advertisements, decorations. There’s nothing special, or interesting, or exciting about it anymore. Certainly it has nothing to do with the birth of that nice Jewish boy, Jesus.

Of course, Charles Dickens tells us to keep Christmas in our hearts every day of the year. But he was talking about the spirit of good will towards men and women, charity, kindness, joy and love in your heart If that’s what we are talking about, we all need a little more Christmas, not less.

lindaroo said...

I love Christmas, and I don't mind a long build up. I love the quiet, generous, spiritual side of the season, that survives the onslaught of both consumeristic and religious militancy. I love that in the US, there is a significant Thanksgiving holiday. Whether one harnesses the Christmas hoopla until after, or simply pauses for Thanksgiving, I think it the holidays can be synergistic. When I integrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, keeping both in spirit, I am less affected by consumerism, and more invested in kindness, peace, and love.
And I want a penguin.