By Emily Sullivan
Opinion and Associate editor
I love Christmas time. There’s nothing quite like watching the snow fall onto the lights outside my house while listening to Bing Crosby croon some Christmas carols.
But when stores go from spooky decorations and costumes to Christmas trees and Santa decorations before Halloween is even over?
I think that’s jumping the gun a bit.
It’s like we forget Thanksgiving is even a holiday. One day, I’m in my Halloween costume dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and the next day, I’m seeing commercials for Black Friday shopping, which as most people know is the day after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the one day during the year that we’re reminded to be thankful for what we have. But some stores, including Kmart, plan to open their doors for Black Friday shopping at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Thursday, according to a Nov. 4 Huffington Post story.
I don’t know about you, but I love Thanksgiving. I love being home and enjoying a meal with my family. It’s kind of disturbing to know that just five miles down the road from my house, Kmart will probably be full of people getting their Black Friday shopping done a day early.
I never go Black Friday shopping. Even in the relatively tiny city of Olean, things can get crazy. People line up in front of Walmart and the mall at crazy-early hours of the morning, waiting to run inside and take advantage of the deals they read about the day before. It’s disgusting, and yet every year, more and more people forget about Thanksgiving and jump into the madness of pre-Christmas shopping.
And it’s not just the stores. When I turned on STAR 102.5 the day after Halloween, the first thing I heard was “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” I get that there are not a lot of Thanksgiving songs, unless you count “The Thanksgiving Song” by Adam Sandler, but what’s the point of playing Christmas music a full two months before the holiday?
I have no problem with Christmas music on every radio station after Thanksgiving. Seeing as Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 28 this year, there’s almost a month after to jam out to Christmas music, go shopping and decorate the house with a Christmas tree and colorful lights.
We don’t need to rush it. It’ll come soon enough.
Christmas is great. There’s nothing like the joyful feeling it can bring. And let’s not lie about it: we all love getting gifts. But it’s wrong that we are skipping past a holiday where we are all supposed to give thanks for what we have to a holiday that’s become centered around getting gifts.
So why not eat some turkey and be thankful for what we have before pulling out the Santa Claus hats and listening for sleigh bells?
I normally set a rule for myself. I don’t allow myself to watch any Christmas related movies or listen to a ton of Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. But that’s really hard to do when practically every store and radio station is already putting a star on top of their Christmas trees.
On Nov. 29, you’ll find me watching Christmas movies and singing carols. Until then, I’m keeping my sights on family, mashed potatoes, and giving thanks.
sullivec10@bonaventure.edu
