I titled this little post Christmas Time NOW because now it is actually post-Thanksgiving. I realize we are all free to "feel the Christmas spirit" anytime we want, and I am certainly not opposed to feeling it the year 'round. It offends me to the point of offense, however, that the "Christmas Season" now starts prior to October 31st (also known as Halloween). Before the kiddies have even selected this year's costume, the stores (particularly $&#Mart) have covered the remaining shelves with Christmas decorations and other Christmas-related items. The toy aisle has overnight transformed itself into "your Christmas headquarters," while Christmas sales are running amok throughout the store. Meanwhile, Halloween itself is still THREE WEEKS AWAY!! Thanksgiving Day is all but forgotten during the "Christmas bustle."
Most retail stores make the biggest part of their profits during the "Christmas Season," so it stands to reason that store management would take advantage of this time. I am certainly not begrudging the corporations their profit. Perhaps I am in the minority now, but I look back with longing to the days when Christmas Time "started" after Thanksgiving; a time when we could pause and spend a day GIVING THANKS. Yes, I knew that the next day was "the biggest shopping day of the year!!!!," but that Thursday the day was spent enjoying family and feasting beyond our means. More the the point, prior to the Day After Thanksgiving, we could walk through the stores without the bombardment of remainders that it is "Christmas Season!!!!!!!!!!!"
Frankly speaking, I am sure that someone in "corporate" at $&#Mart realized that there was a problem with "Christmas Season." The most profitable time of the year, this person reasoned, was...well, too short. You see, from the fourth Friday in November to December 24th is, on average, about thirty days. That was just too problematic, Mr. Corporate Planner, decided. Problematic because profits could be nearly doubled, or maybe TRIPLED, IF Christmas Season were just a tad longer. Maybe Corporate People in corporations all over the nation, nay encompassing the very GLOBE!, applied their collective minds to this problem. Then one day...VIOLA! The $&#Mart Corporate Guy (or Gal, I am not prejudiced!) came up with a BETTER WAY! For the corporation, that is. Yes, you guessed it! Just make the Holiday Season THREE TIMES AS LONG and we can TRIPLE OUR PROFITS!.
Today we are all blessed with a Christmas Season that officially begins fourteen days before Halloween. I guess in some ways this is convenient because now we can buy Halloween Costumes, Trick or Treat Candy, AND Christmas gifts all in one day and one stop. That is true "one-stop" shopping, as $&Mart would have us know. Of course, with Christmas Season now at least sixty days in length, $&Mart and the others hope that we One-Stop Shop several times before December 24th. Then of course the stores will have the December 24th Last Shopping Day Sales, for those who were not able to find gifts in the sixty-three days preceding Christmas Eve.
I can honestly say that one thing has not changed for me, in spite of the best efforts of the corporate people at $&#Mart. I STILL do the vast majority of my Christmas shopping on the last Christmas Shopping Day of the year. I spend the remaining sixty-two days before Christmas boycotting the Christmas aisles and NOT reading the Christmas ads in the newspapers. Yes, no matter what marketing strategies the Corporate People may throw at me, I still have the Spirit of Procrastination on my side. That's right, Mr. (or Mrs.) $&#Mart Corporate Person. You will not see THIS Christmas shopper darkening your doorstep until Christmas Eve at 4:30 PM. So you might as just as well shorten your Christmas shopping days back to where they were pre-$&#Mart, because I am doing all my one-stop shopping just one day before Christmas. Oh yeah, I won't be needing lights, either. They are still up from LAST Christmas!
Most retail stores make the biggest part of their profits during the "Christmas Season," so it stands to reason that store management would take advantage of this time. I am certainly not begrudging the corporations their profit. Perhaps I am in the minority now, but I look back with longing to the days when Christmas Time "started" after Thanksgiving; a time when we could pause and spend a day GIVING THANKS. Yes, I knew that the next day was "the biggest shopping day of the year!!!!," but that Thursday the day was spent enjoying family and feasting beyond our means. More the the point, prior to the Day After Thanksgiving, we could walk through the stores without the bombardment of remainders that it is "Christmas Season!!!!!!!!!!!"
Frankly speaking, I am sure that someone in "corporate" at $&#Mart realized that there was a problem with "Christmas Season." The most profitable time of the year, this person reasoned, was...well, too short. You see, from the fourth Friday in November to December 24th is, on average, about thirty days. That was just too problematic, Mr. Corporate Planner, decided. Problematic because profits could be nearly doubled, or maybe TRIPLED, IF Christmas Season were just a tad longer. Maybe Corporate People in corporations all over the nation, nay encompassing the very GLOBE!, applied their collective minds to this problem. Then one day...VIOLA! The $&#Mart Corporate Guy (or Gal, I am not prejudiced!) came up with a BETTER WAY! For the corporation, that is. Yes, you guessed it! Just make the Holiday Season THREE TIMES AS LONG and we can TRIPLE OUR PROFITS!.
Today we are all blessed with a Christmas Season that officially begins fourteen days before Halloween. I guess in some ways this is convenient because now we can buy Halloween Costumes, Trick or Treat Candy, AND Christmas gifts all in one day and one stop. That is true "one-stop" shopping, as $&Mart would have us know. Of course, with Christmas Season now at least sixty days in length, $&Mart and the others hope that we One-Stop Shop several times before December 24th. Then of course the stores will have the December 24th Last Shopping Day Sales, for those who were not able to find gifts in the sixty-three days preceding Christmas Eve.
I can honestly say that one thing has not changed for me, in spite of the best efforts of the corporate people at $&#Mart. I STILL do the vast majority of my Christmas shopping on the last Christmas Shopping Day of the year. I spend the remaining sixty-two days before Christmas boycotting the Christmas aisles and NOT reading the Christmas ads in the newspapers. Yes, no matter what marketing strategies the Corporate People may throw at me, I still have the Spirit of Procrastination on my side. That's right, Mr. (or Mrs.) $&#Mart Corporate Person. You will not see THIS Christmas shopper darkening your doorstep until Christmas Eve at 4:30 PM. So you might as just as well shorten your Christmas shopping days back to where they were pre-$&#Mart, because I am doing all my one-stop shopping just one day before Christmas. Oh yeah, I won't be needing lights, either. They are still up from LAST Christmas!
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