Merry Consumerism

Do we really need more than 25 days of Christmas? Perhaps it helps consumers to get into the spending mode if all of the sudden Santa is everywhere and carols are playing on every store’s Muzak. Personally I go by the calendar, and my calendar says that Thanksgiving is still days away. I enjoy Thanksgiving. I embrace Thanksgiving. I cook and eat mounds of food every Thanksgiving and am very grateful for every bite and for the Pilgrims and the Indians and the Mayflower, but it is becoming more and more difficult to get into Thanksgiving mode when retail centers have foregone the turkey and buckled shoes decorations and gone straight to the holly and ho ho ho’s. Why can’t we embrace this lovely holiday before moving onto the next?

Perhaps I would feel differently if Christmas were being embraced for its true meaning rather than commercial and material interests. There are masses of people out there who don’t even know the story of the birth of Christ, yet they cling to the holiday as their favorite day of the year. We know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge better than that of the infant child born to a manger. Christmas, the day when all of your wishes come true. You get, you give, but you forget why the day even exists.