Poll: It Comes Earlier Every Year

[saintchristopher]

A perennial gripe among many people - retail workers and habitual shoppers, mostly - is the ever-earlier onset of the Christmas season.

Now I know what their really complaining about is the consumerist culture encouraging people to shop shop shop, and yes that's irritating, but honestly? I'll take any excuse I can cling onto to get myself into the holiday spirit sooner. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but this is really the only time of year when I don't feel like such a cynical, depressive bastard.

Is that so wrong?

 

[Xojins]

No it's not wrong perse, but it sort of feeds into the consumerist culture.

 

[Amnestic]

I saw my local Tesco with Christmas stuff up in September.

They actually had it put up before they had their Halloween stuff.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Maybe I just haven't been out much lately but it doesn't seem to have been to bad this year. I should think now would be a reasonable time to start hammering into us. A few years ago it was getting ridiculous, like selling Xmas stuff in August. I've always hated rabid consumerism tho. Christmas has just become the very opposite of what it was supposed to mean. It doesn't really move me at all anymore.

 

[CSB Fisher]

As long as people arn't dressed up as santa, dancing in my face, people can decorate as early as they want.

 

[saintchristopher]

It doesn't really move me at all anymore.

See, that's what breaks my heart. I realize it all seems to just be "buy the love of your friends and family with this cool stuff over here!" But to me, it's still so much more than that. Y'know? just the fact that people even make the effort to try and be nice to one another, to me that's a kind of 21st-century miracle.

not to mention that this time of year will always remind me of how, for a brief few years in my life, every adult I knew lied right to my face every year, just so it seemed like there could actually be some magic in the world.

I don't know, maybe I'm overcompensating for the aforementioned sad-bastard cynicism i display 10 months out of the year.

 

[Raven's Nest]

It doesn't really move me at all anymore.

See, that's what breaks my heart. I realize it all seems to just be "buy the love of your friends and family with this cool stuff over here!" But to me, it's still so much more than that. Y'know? just the fact that people even make the effort to try and be nice to one another, to me that's a kind of 21st-century miracle.

not to mention that this time of year will always remind me of how, for a brief few years in my life, every adult I knew lied right to my face every year, just so it seemed like there could actually be some magic in the world.

I don't know, maybe I'm overcompensating for the aforementioned sad-bastard cynicism i display 10 months out of the year.

I'm not so much anti-christmas but I do see it as such a token guesture. If Christmas is the time for family and friends then what's the rest of the year about? One day of seeing relatives smile through their teeth at eachother is just pointless. I know this isn't the story in every household but I think everyone will know what I'm talking about. I've seen single mums struggling to meet the expectations of their kids, and it's the mums that suffer the most. Then there's the absent fathers and grandparents who think that they can buy the love of their children every year. I seem to reserve a lot of cynicism for Christmas as it is becoming increasingly false with every passing year. I'd really love to get that Christmas spirit back, like when I was a kid, but I fear those days are gone. I doubt I'm alone in that too.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

The simple truth:

Christmas = Store profits. The earlier it comes the better for businesses.
Plus we're 'emerging' from a recession, so the pick up is like...well, christmas for them.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I prefer to think of it as the "Primary Gifting Period".

I enjoy getting my "Primary Gifts".

 

[esperandote]

i just find it funny how every tv add these days are toys ads and how they probably brain wash the kids. i like christmas BTW.

 

[Captain Pancake]

I love Christmas, but the beginning of November is a bit too soon in my opinion.

But on a more festive note, I really am looking forward to christmas. I've reached that age that it's not really the presents that matter any more. What gets me are the decorations, the music and the overall general atmosphere that all is right with the world, and everybody can just put their problems behind them for one day, just one day, and enjoy themselves wholeheartedly.

 

[Lullabye]

I would say it doesnt affect me since i only celbrate "Holiday"(Im pastafarian.)
But damn, do prices on everything skyrocket! I mean, its gaming season too, so im basically broke 24/7

 

[Disaster Button]

I thought this was sometihng a bit different.

For me the years seem to end a bit faster one after the other

 

[JDviewer]

I don't mind Christmas ads in November, but anytime earlier is just ridiculous. In the shops they've been selling decorations since September, and there have been various Christmas cakes and mince pies in my local supermarket, but I'm sure that they'll be out of date long before the 25th of December.

 

[trelloskilos]

Aside from the gross commercialism that is associated with Christmas, there is also the depression that people suffer due to their own circumstances, such as being lonely, isolated or poor, at this time of the year. - It's no surprise that Christmas leads to an increase in suicide & depression amongst many, when all you get is an enforced sense of goodwill & a need to provide gifts to others despite having no financial means to do so.

That, and the irritating Christmas songs that resurface every fucking year!

I'd probably enjoy Christmas more if it really was more about the goodwill & less about the maximising of profits.

 

[saintchristopher]

It doesn't really move me at all anymore.

See, that's what breaks my heart. I realize it all seems to just be "buy the love of your friends and family with this cool stuff over here!" But to me, it's still so much more than that. Y'know? just the fact that people even make the effort to try and be nice to one another, to me that's a kind of 21st-century miracle.

not to mention that this time of year will always remind me of how, for a brief few years in my life, every adult I knew lied right to my face every year, just so it seemed like there could actually be some magic in the world.

I don't know, maybe I'm overcompensating for the aforementioned sad-bastard cynicism i display 10 months out of the year.

I'm not so much anti-christmas but I do see it as such a token guesture. If Christmas is the time for family and friends then what's the rest of the year about? One day of seeing relatives smile through their teeth at eachother is just pointless. I know this isn't the story in every household but I think everyone will know what I'm talking about. I've seen single mums struggling to meet the expectations of their kids, and it's the mums that suffer the most. Then there's the absent fathers and grandparents who think that they can buy the love of their children every year. I seem to reserve a lot of cynicism for Christmas as it is becoming increasingly false with every passing year. I'd really love to get that Christmas spirit back, like when I was a kid, but I fear those days are gone. I doubt I'm alone in that too.

Yeah, in a perfect world, we'd treat each other like it was Christmas all the time. But thanks to reality and our own ego-centrism, we're going to need that reminder and the prodding to be nice that unfortunately happens to come mostly from the retailers and advertisers.

But we don't have to just buy shit to show loved ones we care.

I don't know. You raise valid points about the absentee parents and the struggling single parents to which I honestly do not have a good reply. I know it won't be some stranger on an internet message board to change your mind about Christmas, but I like to think that all it takes is just the smallest acts of kindness to set that snowball rolling down the hill to get bigger and bigger.

 

[CloakedOne]

I too saw Christmas items in the stores in September. That is ridiculous. It really does come earlier every year. I like Christmas, it's a great time, but Christians, leave some of the calendar for other holidays!

 

[Neonbob]

God, I hate it.
Because every year, they don't even wait for Thanksgiving to show up before shoving mistletoe down my throat, and expecting me to be happy about it.
All that leads to is me being sick of the whole holiday by the time it rolls around.
Hell, if I had it my way, it wouldn't be advertised until a week into December.

But that's me.

 

[brainfreeze215]

It sort of surprises me, especially when my supermarket gets all green and red before halloween, but I can't say it annoys me.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Yeah, in a perfect world, we'd treat each other like it was Christmas all the time. But thanks to reality and our own ego-centrism, we're going to need that reminder and the prodding to be nice that unfortunately happens to come mostly from the retailers and advertisers.

But we don't have to just buy shit to show loved ones we care.

I don't know. You raise valid points about the absentee parents and the struggling single parents to which I honestly do not have a good reply. I know it won't be some stranger on an internet message board to change your mind about Christmas, but I like to think that all it takes is just the smallest acts of kindness to set that snowball rolling down the hill to get bigger and bigger.

Yeah that's true. I think if Christmas was "given back to the people" so to speak, things would get better. Like you said, it takes the retail giants and the coca-cola adverts to start forcing the issue on us and particulary in a time of global recession the pressure can be hard. Especially for lonely people and homeless people as someone mentioned earlier. Suicide and depression rates do go up over the festive period but a lot of people have become too self-centered to care. Maybe I'll volunteer in a soup kitchen this year to try and help bring some warmth back into these peoples lives. They need the Christmas spirit more than I do. Although when Christmas is over, they will still be homeless and most people will forget all about them for another year. This where I think the Christmas spirit should be divided up throughout the year so it can make a difference where it counts.

Maybe if the pressure to spend money was backed off a bit, people would discover what it should mean again. Due to the way of the coporate world and the dominating fondness for materialsim, I don't think it will ever happen.