I Hate Christmas

It seems to me that Christmas comes earlier each year in America and I don’t believe it’s because American citizens are asking for it.  Don’t get me wrong – I think Christmas is a great holiday, and without a doubt, one of the most recognized in this country. But I also think it has been reduced to being celebrated around the all mighty and powerful retailers that be, and their selling schedule. The competition over who (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, etc.) can get that first holiday dollar from the average person in the US is very troubling, and for me has made this once loved holiday a nuisance and worrisome time of year.  

This consumer competition has driven the season to start a day or two earlier each progressing year.  I think Best Buy might have been first this year, although Walgreens did have Christmas decorations on sale while I was shopping for Halloween candy – that’s right – SMARTIES on one shelf, ornaments on the next.   It’s the frenzy and onus put on the people to spend money they ususally don’t have in their budgets, and all to celebrate “the season of giving” – people just don’t seem to remember that it is not a season of giving gifts, but rather giving thanks and giving time – to your friends, family and loved ones.

Basically the retailers have taken over Christmas.  The religious card Christian angles has been suppressed for a long, long time.  This once beloved time of year starts and stops with the consumption that now dominates it.  The constant bombardment of ads puts us in a Pavlovian state, and we often don’t even recognize it – instead we celebrate these marketing ploys as original and fun.  

 

I look at Christmas much differently now. For me it’s still a time to be with our loved ones. It’s a time to give, but not necessarily flashy gift-wrapped material items.  It’s really a time to reflect.   It is the end of a calendar year a year of our lives, and a chance to look at where we stand and where we should go. Not how much we spend.