It seems that the Christmas shopping season is beginning earlier and earlier each year, and this year is no exception…excuse me, I meant to say “Holiday” shopping season, and I only say that because it’s grown politically incorrect to say “Christmas” because some sensitive folks might be offended, even though it ‘tis the season to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Never mind that Jesus wasn’t born at Christmastime…excuse me again, I meant to say “Holidaytime” (not really) but, as some noted theologians suggest, in the springtime, since it was said that shepherds were watching over their flocks in the fields on the night of His birth. Confused? Me, too.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, Christmas shopping… sorry to be politically incorrect, but as an old school sort of guy, I tend to follow tradition. This year, I noticed that the annual Holiday/Christmas (take your pick) blitz began the week before Halloween. Advertisers and retailers couldn’t wait for Thanksgiving to end before extending their advertisements and store hours to offer their “Giant Holiday and Black Friday sales promotions.”
This year’s seasonal promotions kicked off on “Red Wednesday,” a day when most merchants are still in the “Red” (no profits for the year ) and they couldn’t wait for “Black Friday” (the first day of the year they’re finally “in the Black” (showing a profit). Many retailers even stayed open on Thanksgiving Day, which is now known as “Gray Thursday” (when some are still in the “Red,” while others are now in the “Black”).
Nowadays, many retailers begin stocking their shelves with “seasonal goods” – Christmas/Holiday greeting cards, giftwrap, tree ornaments, etc. and rolling out their plastic or metallic Christmas trees around Halloween time. This year, I heard the first Christmas carols on the radio about a week before Thanksgiving, followed by the annual barrage of cringingly crass TV and radio ads like this one from a popular car manufacturer, whose name I shan’t mention, but I think we all know who it is. Happy Honda Days, oh, a holiday and it’s the best one of the year. During these helpful holidays, we can help you, too with a great deal on a Honda.
Or how about this one from a few years ago? Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Come on and celebrate the holiday – ay, ay, ay. Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh come and celebrate the Hyundai Holidays. And talk about politically incorrect, these preceding holiday car commercials take the cake for crass commercialism.
I guess by now you get the idea that crass Christmas commercials and generic holiday greetings are totally uncool and that it’s still OK to wish folks a happy or merry whatever holiday they wish to celebrate, no matter whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza. Well, it’s time for me to start my holiday… excuse me, I mean Christmas shopping.
By the way, I purposely avoided the Black Friday crowds – seems I’m not that fond of being trampled, pepper-sprayed, stabbed or shot at like what happened in a big city a few years ago.
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
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