Give me back Thanksgiving
Ok, enough already.
Enough with malls putting up Christmas decorations before Halloween.
It’s insulting enough to somehow suggest cheap tinsel horns and stars* mounted to parking poles will swing my attention away from driving past the mall enough to make me realize, “hey, I need to shop,” if I didn’t already. It’s insulting to think it’s OK for giant ornaments strung from the rafters to take precedence over and crush the meaning from my kids’ (and my own) anticipation of Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Anyone remember Thanksgiving decorations?
Halloween is kinda silly, though, so I’ll say this: Let me and my children look forward to Thanksgiving — a holiday that holds some sentimental nostalgia — without steamrollering it into a mental wasteland by making my kids think they’re getting toys any second now.
If they’re so effective, Malls, then just leave them up year-round. I suppose there has been some psychological study that says it’s effective. But I bet they haven’t figured out what happens if you just beat people over the head with it. I’d love it if everyone got jaded and went back to bed instead of waiting in lines at 4:30 in the morning to buy this year’s Kick Me Elmo.
I know, you say, “But you don’t have to shop at the mall. It’s free speech.”** And I don’t, and it is.
But we do go to the mall. It’s still in very poor taste.
Appoint me King. I’ll fix it.
*Yeah, there’s Channukah too. But let’s face it: we don’t get overrun with giant dreidels. Not as much, anyway.
**Maybe you don’t say this. Someone does, though.
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Shop online. That’s where it’s at.
Nordstroms actually has a large sign up that says something to the effect of, “You know why our Christmas decorations aren’t up? Because we believe in celebrating one holiday at a time. Happy Thanksgiving.” Personally, I don’t get too bent out of shape over early Christmas marketing, but if you’re looking for a place to vote with your dollars in favor of Saving Thanksgiving, that might be your place. Especially if you like petite women’s jackets. Which are currently 40 percent off. Just FYI.
I am already hearing Christmas music in many places as well. Now THERE’S something I really need to have for an extended period of time.
I like what Nordstrom did there, Shawn….but why did they feel the need to address it? Did they think their customers would be confused or overly anxious, due to the lack of tinsel and the lack of a good explanation? Perhaps they felt their customers would feel personally slighted if they felt the store just didn’t care about Christmas, and they might then take their business over to Bloomingdales. They know how to party over there.