Bah Humbug!!!!!!!

Okay, I'm totally disgusted. What happened to Thanksgiving? I mean, somewhere a long the line
we have skipped a holiday. Then when I read what the major retailers are doing. BAH HUMBUG!!!!!!!!!!
One of the local radio stations has started playing Christmas Carols. BAH HUMBUG!!!!!!!! The program director should be
buried with a stake of holly in his heart.

It seems like the worse the economy is, the more retailers try to cram Christmas shopping down our throats. Ironically, that makes many of us less inclined to buy anything.

I have even heard Christmas music being played in a store already this year. I have seen Christmas yard decorations out already. It gets worse here. My mom told me one of the malls here already has Santa Claus. The Native American/Western museum has a Western type train exhibit called Jingle Rails, which I have no problem with and I don't think it's presented as an Christmas exhibit.

Here's the link to the exhibit and no, I haven't seen it.
http://www.eiteljorg.org/ejm_WhatsHappening/Exhibitions/Details.asp?ID=3532

Good God my mom is complaining about it too. I feel bad for those that don't celebrate Christmas.

one of the big department stores in NYC has already debuted their Christmas windows, it used to be the start was when Santa"s sleigh arrived at the end of the macys Thanksgiving day parade. But all of the stores are already displaying Christmas stuff to sell, the fall/thanksgiving stuff at Rite aid is already being cleared out.

as for Black friday, a BIG Bah Humbug to the stores which are staying open on Thanksgiving,

there is no thanksgiving when you work retail...unless yo work for some small store where the boss is right there and has a heart. nope... we don't know when we'll be open but i'm sure we will open at least by midnigh ton Thanksigving night. and the idiots have been asking us for at least a month when we will open on Thanisgiving.
I have no problem with christmas music..i LIKE christmas music (though what is played now isn't christmas music is screeching and most doesn't say a word about christmas!)

i hate christmas above and beyond anything except maybe abuse of animals! never hated it until i started working where i am now..or more accurately just in the past 5 yrs or so. there is NOTHING christmas for the people who work there all year long. not even a sandwich for working the day after thanksgiving or a crumb for christmas eve. i've worked for all sorts of retail situations...evertying from a mom and pop type place where the owner came aroiund and handed you a card with either cash or a savings bond in it to a place where you got a big dinner dance and a christmas card sent from corportate headquarters...but the biggest richest place worked? well...just read a few sentences back.

i used to exchange presents with a few people at work...i gave out about a dozen presents and got maybe two or three....i don't care about the count. what does get me is that nobody exchanges at all now.....well, except me. and i don't know if anyone likes it or if they throw it away as soon as my back is turned. cuz its usually something i've made. coookies or a nut mix or last year it was pretty tea cups i got at the thrift shop with little things like hand cream and lip balm and tea bags...and i think i made cookies. i can't remember.
i don't know what to do this year....i think i put a recipe in here for easy peanut brittle or something. i saw some little bakery boxes i could put it in. who knows....
but gawd..i HATE christmas.

Jeane, I share you anger and frustration. My brother posted something on FB about Nordstrom's not
putting their Christmas stuff up to after Thanksgiving. I don't think all this garbage adds a penny to their
bottom line. This weekend one of the credit card companies is urging people to shop small. I'll have to pay closer
attention to the add. Know something, I'm going to make it a point to shop at one or two of the small shops that I like
and buy something.

We had a few stores this year put up Christmas stuff before Halloween! Why don't they admit it, we don't have separate holidays anymore but one big Shopping Season (according to retailers) called Hallothankmis? They cram Christmas down my throat so much around here I barely feel like celebrating it at all. It's just two weeks off without pay for me, followed by crappy weather and crabby kids when school reopens. I don't really get presents anymore unless folks in here send them. I'll be lucky to get a card from my grandpa.......my sis doesn't send anything anymore.

well, I still love Christmas, but it's getting harder to get in the mood lately. I haven't put up a tree in years, mostly since most of my family has moved away.
But i go to my cousin's for Christmas day and spend it with her and her husband's family/
My present giving list has been whittled down, mostly because of the economy, but last year I was very depressed and didn't send out anything, not even a card. Hopefully this year my outlook will be rosier.
I have an extensive Christmas music collection, and start playing them the day after Thanksgiving.

i was watching the local (ie NJ)news channel last night and they said our store is supposed to be opening at 9:00pm Thanksgiving NIGHT. you got it...we are open on THANKSGIVING...at least according to the news. i'll believe when they tell us actually at work...but i wouldn' t put it past them...we opened at midnight last year....next year we'll probably open at 6:00.
i never know what time i'll go into work...i don't kow what time i'd WANT to go into work....i really don't even care any more. as long as i'm on my feet and breathing i'll have to make it through the day and be there whenever they tell me to be there. i won't enjoy it...and i'm warning anyone that this isn't going to be a good year...and that is going to be one of the worst weekends.
every year i say the same thing...at least for the past aybe 7 yrs. if i can just make it through til christmas..but now its til mid Jan (with all the returning crap)i will be totally shocked.
it used to be nice when NYCC was in Feb cuz it got me through...i had something to look forward to that was close after the hellidays. now there's nothing at all...not a freakin thing to even think about until April. esh.
i wiswh i had a doctor to go to ..i'd ask for a coupl.e bottles of xanax (or whatever it does now....used to be valiums...lthen xanax...don't know what it is now!).

Jeane, I would laugh if the problem wasn't so serious. The local news down here was reporting the same thing and I
think I saw something about in either NYT or the Washington Post. Christmas has just become another secular holiday.
I think we talked about this in one of the other forums, it used to be that gifts were exchanged on St. Nicholas day or New Years
Day. So the exchange of gifts would not interfere with the religious significance of the holiday.

Wow - you guys are really harshing my buzz...

Sorry BC, it's just there is huge build up and all this pressure, that no one seems to
enjoy the holiday anymore. I mean enjoy the small parties and get to gathers, the trips to
the Christmas tree farms and concerts. What I hate is the continous loop of the same music, the if you don't
spend a lot of money on your loved ones and not so loved ones you're a Scrooge, the fake compassion.

Yeah, the noise gets old really fast (same thing going on here, decorations up and Christmas music radio already at it) but after all, it's just noise. Like hucksters on TV selling mattresses on their Gigantic President's Day Blowout Sale. (I mean, huh????) Seems to me we can either let the retailers and radio stations dictate Christmas to us, or we can look within and decide for ourselves what's important and what we choose to celebrate.

You're right SUzzz, it's all background noise. Still even white noise will grate on your
nerves after awhile.

Especially when that white noise is everywhere, all the time, at high volume. You just can't escape it unless you don't go out, don't turn on the radio or tv, open a newspaper or read your mail. I often get depressed this time of year because I'd like to send out gifts but can't afford them or the postage to mail them anymore.

I had a big long explanation typed up here, and somehow I lost it. At any rate, my point was that several years back, I lost several family members in close succession, and under some truly horrible circumstances, and I felt like our sadness and grief might just consume us all, so it was actually Wesley who stepped in and insisted we find joy and peace again in our holidays, and little by little, we've made it a joyful time again. I find myself getting a little weepy again just remembering it as I type this. We decided to take every day of the holiday season, and every family member and friend who is still here to enjoy it with us as a gift.

I wish radio stations would knock off the 24/7 Christmas music too - so I don't listen to it. I'd love to see the radio stations throw in a carol once in a while, like they used to do. I also make it a point not to go to stores and restaurants on a holiday, because I think every working person deserves a holiday. I know my little protest won't change things, but it's what I can do.

I know my work situation allows me these luxuries, but I used to work retail, and remember it well. That's why I made it a point years ago to get the hell out of retail.

my sentiments pretty much match yours, Bobcat.
I love Christmas music, but mostly the carols, so I play my own christmas CDs (50 and counting) which is mostly carols of different sorts with some modern stuff thrown in.

Since I don't have a TV I'm not bombarded with the blitz of ads, etc.

I do love watching the houses in my neighborhood, and the store fronts gradually showing their christmas cheer with lights, etc. and i love going to see the houses that go all out . we have a neighborhood in brooklyn which is absolutely spectacular. Peole come from miles around to see the displays.

isw that the one that has been on tv over the year? the man who goes completely crazy with all the christmas stuff but it has to do something with charity? (either he does it in remembrance of someone or he does it to raise money for charity..i can't remember).

See that's what I'm talking about BC. You and Wesley made a decision to get off that merry go round. Now your are
saner and enjoy you holidays more. You remember your loved ones with love and joy.

Fif, don't get depressed because you can't give people things. My brother has over the years given me big gifts
small gifts, sometimes no gifts at all yet I know he loves me. People in here have given of themselves which is the
best gift of all. People who have to be bought are no friends at all.

Hear, hear, Sue. Still, I know what it's like to WANT to give but be unable to. But words can be gifts, too! Hand-written cards, or simply notes, or even emails, can express the love and good wishes we feel for those that mean so much to us. Shoot, we do it with each other here when we post on holidays and birthdays, and it feels really good! We might not always be able to send tangible gifts, but we can always send our love, one way or another.

I have proposed a new holiday tradition for my family. Everyone should bring something they enjoy eating or drinking. We sit around our little tree and each tells one story. That's it. We can read the story from a book or tell about something from a past Christmas that is special to us. (And if I know my family, we'll end the evening by finishing up the food and feeling too full while we walk the doggies.)

I definitely suffer BAH HUMBUG during the LONG season. I work across the street from the mall and don't even bother going to the food court from October to January. It's annoying. I listen to NPR and the classical music station to avoid the push for forced holiday cheer. I love LK's no TV plan. I didn't have one until I got married and I was much happier without one.

jeanebellini wrote:isw that the one that has been on tv over the year? the man who goes completely crazy with all the christmas stuff but it has to do something with charity? (either he does it in remembrance of someone or he does it to raise money for charity..i can't remember).

I'm not sure if he's the one you're thinking of, but his house has been featured on some Tv show, and he collects for charity.
His house happens to be on the same block as my doctor's office.

i bet it is the same guy....i wish i could catch the show again!
when i worked at the clothes store there were several years that i worked alone in the receiving room...i'd always have the npr/classical station on (it annoyed everyone else..but their rap crap annoyed me whenever i left the room!)THey always had interesting music and interviews on for the holidays. not the usual christmas music so you didn't get sick of it!