ON THANKSGIVING Day, I was relaxing on the couch channel surfing when I happened upon a Christmas classic, “Miracle on 34th Street,” on the Turner Classic Movie channel. Okay, I thought to myself, it’s a bit early for Christmas, but this is a great movie.
At the first commercial break, I was bombarded by a series of advertisements for everything from department stores to auto insurance featuring Santa Claus and piles of gifts under the Christmas tree. Thinking that perhaps the Christmas advertising onslaught was a result of the fact that I was currently watching a Christmas movie, I switched channels to the Detroit-Tennessee game. Once again, every commercial somehow managed to include poor old Kris Kringle in its pitch for auto parts or winter sweaters. Plus, every third commercial was a department store practically begging me to head on down at the crack of dawn to save on Christmas “door-buster” specials.
Unfortunately, this year the term “door-buster” got a little too literal when a Wal-Mart employee in Long Island, New York was quite literally trampled to death when impatient shoppers stampeded into the store at 5 a.m. Elsewhere, at a Toys-R-Us, two men got into an altercation that involved gunfire in the crowded store. (Authorities say the dispute was unrelated to the toys, but nevertheless, the two men were undoubtedly in the store in hopes of catching some massive after-Thanksgiving deals.)
“Black Friday,” the Friday after Thanksgiving when all the Christmas sales begin, has been an American tradition for as long as I can recall. But it seems that every year the Christmas holiday descends upon us just a little bit earlier than it did the year before. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas music, Christmas lights, and the scent of Christmas trees just as much as the next person, but it seems that less and less time is devoted each year to the Thanksgiving holiday. As soon as Halloween is past, up go the Christmas decorations in all the storefronts, all fake snow and pudgy Santas and red-and-green candy canes. It cheapens the Christmas spirit to reduce it to some fake window frosting in a CVS in mid-November. Christmas should be kept in December, for just the few weeks where it can be truly appreciated and celebrated; it should be a special and short time of year that can be eagerly awaited by children nationwide, instead of a near year-long excuse to sell old merchandise for rock-bottom prices.
The holiday shopping season is always chaos, but in recent years it has been reaching a fever pitch of insanity. Perhaps it’s only because I’m older, and no longer eagerly believe in the various incarnations of the TV Santa Claus in all the ads, but I feel disheartened by the commercialization of the holiday season. It may be cliché to say that the holidays shouldn’t be about the gifts, but it is especially relevant in this year of economic downturn and financial hardship. This year, advertising was particularly heavy in light of fears that families would be reverting to traditional Christmas values like spending time with each other instead of buying and anticipating expensive gifts.
Are Christmas and holiday gifts really so integral to the season that we’re willing to literally stampede store employees to be the first to get the hottest new toy for our children or our little siblings? Is it really about the gifts?
I can remember as easily as anyone how it felt when I was a kid and I was greedily unwrapping everything under the Christmas tree in hopes of finding the My Little Pony I so desperately wanted. But what I remember even more vividly is the feeling I got when my dad’s eyes welled up with tears as he unwrapped the hand-painted mug that I’d made for him, or the way my mom’s face lit up when she saw the card I’d drawn in crayon, in spite of my numerous spelling mistakes. And even more fondly still, I remember just being with my family, racing down the stairs with my brother at 8 a.m., eating the Spritz cookies my mom made every year, sitting with my dad by the fireplace listening to the Christmas classics on the old cassette player.
As a college students, most of us see a lot less of our families these days than we did in years past, so the holidays are a time to really appreciate being at home. I don’t know about you, but I won’t be swayed by the weeks-old advertising telling me my Christmas won’t be complete without a new car with a big red bow on top. This year, the greatest gift I can receive is time with my family.
Michelle Lamont’s column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at m.lamont@cavalierdaily.com.
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