Bah Humbug!

Here is yet another rant about how early the Christmas crap comes out. One of my friends who feels lucky to have his retail job tells me his first display went up July 12 this year. And now, they have most of their decorations up. I have been watching Christmas commercial on every single channel now since before Halloween. And while looking at the on sale Back to School stuff, I noticed I was humming a Christmas carol, because it was being piped in the overhead music. I immediately stopped and yelled an expletive. What the heck are they doing to us?

I was really annoyed this weekend, when I had planned an event for people to travel to from all over NY and PA, and I did not know the street on which I had expected all of the travellers to drive was taken over by the city's annual Christmas Parade. Yes, the Christmas Parade! And I had not known about it until I heard all of the noise and wondered where all of my friends were. They were stuck in traffic wondering if our fair city has looked at a calendar.

Now, I don't mind shopping early for the holiday - in fact my shopping is done. So I don't mind getting some advertising suggesting what I ought to be buying for those near and dear to me. But there's so many unrealistic expectations created by advertising, that it fairly sets my blood to boiling. I do not expect ever to find a bow-wrapped car on my driveway, for instance. Nor will I ever buy every member of my family a cellular phone so we can talk as long as we like. Heck, some members of my family are barely on speaking terms except for holidays. The most recent ad that bothered me was the two kids roughly 8 and 6 admiring a toolbox that had to cost several hundred dollars. How the heck are they supposed to pay for it? That's right, they can't - but they'll look cute which may get Mom to consider it.

Too much advertising only rubs my nose into how much I hate the holidays. My family isn't religious. We don't bother going to church on Christmas (well, ok, my brother's family does, but we don't as a family. And that is the true Purpose of Christmas, or so most people should say. Go and celebrate the birth of the Christian saviour. I haven't seen a commercial yet where Jesus appears and tells you to go buy this-and-so, but I am confident it's just a matter of time. I call the holiday kissmoose. This is celebrated by a family reunion, and obligatory gifts, and we don't mind the pagan trappings of gorging ourselves and lighting a tree to guard the light in the dark of the year.

It's the obligation part that bothers me most. One doesn't have much choice but to make the journey to see one's family, assuming of course that one is lucky enough to be blessed with family. And I imagine all of these commercials must really bother those who do not have anyone to feel obliged to, or simply enjoy the company of. It's bad enough to have it all December long... but the more of the year spent gearing up for the enormous let down of not having the brand new car or shiny tool box or whatever thing you've been primed to expect by the advertisers... Who really needs it? Bah humbug.

It really just makes me wish I could afford TIVO or other method of never ever watching commercials again.