I would be lying if I said I didnāt have ABC Familyās ā25 Days of Christmasā schedule screen-shotted on my phone, patiently waiting in my iPhoto for December 1st to come.
I like to think Iām pretty good at the act of Christmas shopping, buying the perfect gifts for those who deserve it.
Having worked retail before, I understand marketable time periods and points of higher sales.
I work at a Sunglass Hut in Polaris, and my job there also entails I work at our booth in the Macyās Department store as well. As I am getting older, I feel like I go through a Cindy Loo Who type crisis around the holiday season.
I struggle through early December trying to get past the maimingās on Black Friday and to remember why Christmas is important to me.
To say the least, I was not prepared for the day after October break when I returned to Macyās to find it was a Winter Wonderland. As I rode down the escalator, I heard āJingle Bell Rockā blasting on the loudspeaker. Concerned, I look around to see Twizzler-like banners hanging from the ceiling and big glass balls that say āBelieveā with red writing covering the sales floor.
I turned to see where the purses used to be, which had been replaced by a faux Santaās Workshop and two little girls were sitting already writing their letterās to Santa in the North Pole.
When I got to my register, I was in a daze with specs of shiny white fake snow that covered the walls in my peripherals.
A note was left from my manager, saying, āWhoever can work from 5 p.m. Thanksgiving day through 10 p.m. (overnight) on Black Friday please contact me ASAP.ā
My anxiety boiled up like marshmallow in hot chocolate and I felt I had been forced into this candy cane lane retail nightmare.
Department stores have taken Christmas shopping too far, this year being the tip of my iceberg. It was more unnerving than annoying that holiday commercials in October became more prominent in 2014.
Letās not forget the fact that these stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day this year to boot, taking away from the true meaning of a holiday designed to bring family and friends together in thanks for what they already have. Thanksgiving should not be about what people neeed to buy.
I truly believe people need to take this issue seriously and as an issue reevaluate what the season really is for. We need to be thankful before we can be giving, because we need to understand how lucky we are to have what we have and whom we get to share it with.
I donāt appreciate snow in early October, just like I donāt appreciate being forced into the least important part of Christmas before I even pass the gravy.