Now, I never intend for this blog to get ranty and I would much rather talk about things I love than things that irritate me. However, there is one thing that, at this time of year, really grinds my gears. I am writing this entry on the 4th of December. That' s only 21 days until Christmas as my employer keeps reminding me, which means that it is now acceptable to start winding up to the present-giving event of the year. Before then, it's just a little tacky.
One aspect of my job is to speak to the majority of the customers I serve and as I am not particularly inventive when it comes to small talk, I usually ask them what they'll be doing with the rest of their day (that way, if they don't want to talk to me, a blunt 'no' will shut me up). I was working on Sunday the 6th of November, which for those keeping count, was 48 days until Santa throws himself down chimneys and reverse-burgles everyone. I asked a gentleman that very question. His response was: "Nothing much, just going to put the Christmas tree up and get the decorations sorted".
I'll leave you to ponder that for a second and check back to the date on which this event occurred.
Yes, it had only just been Bonfire Night and this man was already looking ahead to tinsel and baubles. I'm all for festive spirit and the holiday season, but for me, this is just a tad early. Oh who am I kidding? It is far too early. Too the point of being ever so slightly obscene in its earliness. What ever happened to keeping Christmas magical? You start looking forward to it this early, the event itself becomes an anti-climax. Sad to say though, this is a symptom of how commercialised Christmas has now become and I know this is said every year but it is starting to suck the magic out a little for me. In the supermarket I work in, Christmas stock comes in on the 1st of September (116 days still to go). I heard "A Spaceman Came Travelling" on the in-store radio in the middle of November and decorations have been going up from around the same time. If every high street shop and supermarket are going "LOOK IT'S CHRISTMAS! BUY THINGS!" then everyone is going to start looking ahead a bit too soon.
Now, I'm all for belting out 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' at inappropriate volumes in public, but does no one else think this is much more fun and exciting when Christmas is in fact only, for the sake of argument, around 6 sleeps away? Or putting the tree up on Christmas Eve when all your family are back together so that Christmas can finally begin? Or there's that thrill you get from doing your Christmas shopping at the very last minute because you hadn't any ideas until now (don't kid yourself, I know it's not just me).
Wizzard may have wished for Christmas every day but it would become boring and lose any magic it still has left. I'm not the most festive person in the world, but I'm also not a Scrooge. I like Christmas and, contrary to popular belief, I enjoy spending it with friends and family. But let's save Christmas and all its quirks for the proper time, during advent, when you can sing Christmas songs to your heart's content, tinsel everything with gay abandon and drink and eat heartily because hey, it's that time of year.
It might just be worth it to keep that magic wrapped up for a little while longer.
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