How can I say this…the long retail slog towards Christmas has started. Yesterday I visited my doctor for an immunization, and on the way home stopped at the big box bookstore for a treat. It was low but insidious. Christmas music, on the second of November.
Oh, Lord! Do I have the stamina to withstand two months of Chestnuts Roasting in an Open fire, Here Comes Santa Clause, and Silent Night? Can I do this without becoming a grouch or, worse, a grinch?
I still have the build-up to our Thanksgiving ( here in the States), and I understand that between bird flu and supply chain issues, the rush to the freezers with the turkeys will make Black Friday a stroll in the park. It is almost enough to make a teetotaler like myself lust for a drink of the Golden Egg Nog they have already started pushing in the stores. Ick!
Don’t get me wrong, the holidays at this time of year are my absolute favorite. Nothing is mundane about lighting the first Christmas lights at sundown on Thanksgiving, preparing a holiday dinner, or listening to sappy songs. These things light off old memories like fireworks on the fourth of July.
So I guess I’ll put my earbuds firmly in place every time I go into a store for the next two months, play Tom Waits or ZZ Top, and buggy through the schlock. I love the holidays,
It’s a curiosity to me, this premature holiday ejaculature. And it’s with every holiday, somehow the preparation and mood setting is two full months ahead of the game, however the day after, drag your long dead tree out to the curb, turn off the outdoor display, make ready for your valentine-Easter-bunny-memorial day. The jack-o-lantern isn’t rotten yet, and somehow it’s too late for Alice’s Restaurant, and Arlo will be stuck in that cell with his litter until next season. Now, to retreat into my cave for winter….
A very accurate assessment of our retail or wholesale approach to these things.
“Premature holiday ejaculature”! 🤣🤣🤣
I know. wWhy didn’t I think of that one!
However, although it’s premature, it lasts a long time? So … not utterly awful? 😬
My favorite supermarket, possibly because its staff is collectively 16ish-years-old, plays screechy-squee pop *music* apparently all the time. I’d pay extra to hear some Christmas instead!!
Fortunately we only have Walmart and the dollar stores here. I don’t go to Walmart so no shopping and no canned muzak. I did notice that Hallmark started their run of new and old Christmas movies in October!!! I saw none last year because I was in the middle of the great move but think they may have waited till November. I start thinking Christmas early because I make things. But it shouldn’t start until at least Thanksgiving dishes are done. It’s just crazy.
Like you, Marlene, I make things, so we think designs, time required, and stuff like that. It’s different.
I agree completely that it’s too early to be hearing Christmas songs wherever you go. At least wait until after Thanksgiving. I mentioned this post of yours here: https://fivedotoh.com/2022/11/03/the-heat-is-on-2/
Fandango, thanks for the mention.
I think retailers all are in lockstep out of fear of lost sales if they don’t get out there when everyone else does. Stockholder reaction probably also figures in. But the paradox seems to be that in recent years they’ve started steeply discounting before Christmas and then report lower than expected sales for the holiday.
You are so organised. I just skip the whole thing altogether.