Halloween came on a Tuesday this year, and considering our school spirit, we had dress up days for each day of the week. The great thing about dress up days is that we are allowed to express ourselves in ways that we normally don’t. Students are given a theme but can choose to express that theme however we want. This beauty shown through the day after Halloween; the theme was pajama day and it surprised and delighted me to see so many people wearing Christmas themed pajamas.
It seems like every year Christmas arrives a little earlier. Of course Christmas doesn’t actually arrive earlier, it’s always on December 25th, but this feeling comes from the fact that every year Christmas themed items and decorations are put up earlier and earlier. Business put out their Christmas themed products before Thanksgiving, houses have Christmas lights up in October, and people start wearing Christmas themed clothes or playing Christmas themed songs as soon as they get a whiff of Christmas in early September. The Oaks mall is already decorated like it’s the week before Christmas. The name for phenomenon has been coined “Christmas creep” and although most Americans aren’t familiar with this term, most have likely experienced it before.
The traditional start of Christmas season in America is after Thanksgiving. Avid Thanksgiving celebrators often balk at the appearance of Christmas themed items in stores before Thanksgiving because they feel that the importance of Thanksgiving and its values are overshadowed by the anticipation of Christmas. As unfortunate as it is that Thanksgiving is overshadowed by Christmas, it is just the fact of the matter that most people care more about Christmas than Thanksgiving. Businesses and chain stores operate on the concept of supply and demand. More Christmas themed products are put on the shelves earlier each year because businesses know that people want to buy those products. Competition between businesses to attract early Christmas shoppers also pushes along Christmas creep.
To me and to many people in America, whether they are Christian or not, Christmas represents the idea of being grateful, happy, and loved while being surrounded by your family. Although I was raised with these concepts about Christmas, I never once celebrated Thanksgiving as a kid. However this does not mean I can’t recognize that Thanksgiving is also very important. I appreciate Christmas creep because it allows me to wallow in anticipation of one of the happiest times of the year but at the same time I know Thanksgiving deserves its fair share of the store shelves in November.
