It is November first. I went to Shaw's supermarket to get soda and was attracted to the half off Halloween candy. (MMMM, chocolate! Thanks MJ!!
) Then I noticed the music. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." If they did not have a good price on diet coke ($0.66 per 2 liter) I'd have left.
Since I'm on a rant board that brings up another thing. The "regular" price was $1.43 per two-liter bottle. The receipt cheerfully told me I saved 77 cents on each bottle. Who are they kidding? Does anyone pay over a buck for a half-gallon of fizzy sugar water?
Hey you think that's bad? Some stores round here have been selling Christmas stuff since the midle of October.
Does anyone pay over a buck for a half-gallon of fizzy sugar water?
If it's Diet Coke, make that a buck for a half-gallon of fizzy chemical-laced water.
Last year the Xmas stuff started to appear in the supermarkets here in August. This year it was a month later.
Arround here, you see traces of it in the form of some comericals and some stuff in stores in October but usually after Haloween is done, the Christmas stuff really starts to appear.
But I do feel this is why so many people become Scrooges. Christmas stuff being out so soon has a way of being a reminder of how comerical it's become.
When the Back to School displays come down the Christmas stuff starts in retail stores around here. Maybe, just maybe, a retailer who has 90% of his business driven by the holiday can be forgiven. (Maybe.) A supermarket sound system, however... I mean, c'mon I buy bread and peanut butter in July too.
Technically, a two-liter bottle is a bit more that 1/2 of a gallon. 1/2 gallon is 64 oz. 2 liter contain 67.6 oz or .528125 gallons. But I totally agree with the sentiment.
Mmmmmm... fizzy chemical-laced water...
Fortunately, the Oberlin bubble is largely exempt from the gun-jumping prevalent everywhere else. So I don't have to deal with Christmas Prematuras!
New York radio station Lite-FM (WLTW-106.7) is going to program nothing but Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving. (11/28) This is overkill in my mind. How many times can someone take Crosby and Bowie doing "The Little Drummer Boy"? Guess I'd better warm up my Sheryl Crow CD's.
Adam Bomb,
I relish when Hanukah is finally over. No offense to the Jewish people, but can we please, please, please for pity's sake and the sake of the same God we all worship have some write something other than Adam Sandler's Hanukah song.
Dear Adam,
At Least,You do not have to suffer such British Christmas "Classics" as Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" (especially on auto repeat !).
Compared to this, "Little Drummer Boy" is mild in/by comparison...
Hey... There's several very good ones. Of course, Maoz Tzur and Mi Yemalel don't make good radio play any more than Schubert's Ave Maria does.
Blue and Scott --
Didn't you have this discussion last year?
TomM,
Yup. And ScottN still has not written a pop song.
When Christmas is over a local DJ makes a point of playing "I am Iron Man." It is so refreshing when it is not "I am Santa Claus."
On the radio sttation i listen to they have a contest for the worst Christmas songs they get mailed for free. Beleive it or not, some don't make the cut. Dogs barking Jingle Bells and Dominic the Christmas Donkey are actually the good ones. (NO, you don't want to know what the others sound like, but if your curious let me say that all I want for Christmas is my liposuction.))
TomM,
Pick, pick pick.... 
If you have digital cable, you probably have Music Choice. Their "Sounds Of The Season" channel began playing Christmas music last week. Thankfully, there are 44 other channels to choose from.
Dominic the Christmas Donkey?! What the devil is that?
Being that I'm now living alone for the first time in my life (post-divorce) I don't know if I'll even put up a Christmas tree. I have a son (he'll be 14, but he lives with the ex.) Any suggestions from you guys would be appreciated. E-mail me if you can, so as not to take up space here on the board.
Adam Bomb,
Santa has trouble with the Moutains of Northern Italy and enlists the aid of Dominic the Chhristmas Donkey. Hee-Haw, Hee-Haw. It is really a touching religious song.
The Jews did not kill Jesus Christ. Santa Claus did.
General rant,
Do Muslims have have Abdullah who takes his magic camel around the world and delivers toys and complete body covering clothes with mesh covered eye holes to good boys and girls?
Do Buddhist have the magical fat guy who flys around the world on a magic ant eater and brings toys and serenity to god little boys and girls.
Do Jews really have Hannakuh Harry or was the just SNL? (A magic cart pulled by three donkeys, Moshe, Herchel, and Schlo-mo.)
Do Shinto(ists) have a special night where the ancestors bring toys to honorable little boys and girls? (Joke explanation: Shintoism is (/was) in Japan.)
MJ, do Wiccanites have a day where thundar flies around the world on his Mock to give good little boys and girls toys and a golden reed?
Other than May Day, do Athestist have a day where Uncle Joe flies around the world in his mig and gives good little agitators weapons to free others from the opiate that is religion.
Even if so, be grateful, Muslims, Buddhist, Jews, Shintoist, Wiccans, Aetheists. Be grateful you do not know the terror that is Santa Claus.
Ok. It's Sept 6, 2006 and my boss had me put out the boxed Christmas cards today and the same time we were changing the front displays for Halloween and putting up the 2007 Calendars. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!! NOT YET!!!! My brain doesn't want to think about Christmas yet.
Sorry Rant Over.
Last week, I went to Target, and they had the Christmas stuff right next to the Halloween stuff. Ugh.....
The trend of wearing Santa Claus suits in May can't be that far behind.
That's nothing. Yesterday, when I went to the local Screw Value, er True Value. I was looking for some Halloween decorations. All they had at Screw Value (so named because of how expensive they are) were Christmas decorations. I also noticed that two or three weeks ago, a nearby Wal-Mart had their Christmas decorations out, not two rows away from the Halloween ones. One holiday at a time, folks. Please.
I agree but unfortunately it's out of our hands. If Home Office makes us put it out there's not much we can do about it. Please just don't take it out on the poor clerks. Trust me we've heard it all and generally we're not happy about it either.
I work in a supermarket and we had our Halloween candy and stuff out on the shelves in the middle of August. Probably the Christmas stuff will be out on November 1st.
if the custormers think they have it bad, work at a store that plays music on the intercom...
Christmas music for 2.5 months straight... same songs nonstop...
Or a mall with muzak. The Christmas music starts Nov 1st and won't end until Jan 31st. There favorite song is Feliz Navidad. or with my apologies Flies Never Die. I work in a chain bookstore at a mall.
In August, at the store where I work, we had a customer complain about us not having Haloween candy. Did I mention it was August.
Easter Bunnys coming in your local K-mart, Target, or Macy's or Kohl's Dec 24.
mmmmm 3 month old candy...
mmm many month old fused and misshapen hardened marshmellow peeps
I was in Target the other day.
They had some of the Xmas stuff out already. Granted, it was behind the Halloween stuff, but it was on the shelves.
Maybe we need Robot Santa?
Scott, at Wal-Marts here in Illinois, I was seeing Christmas stuff back in September. I'm starting to think we just need to push all the holidays into one week and get it all over with. Right now, I seriously expect to see Valentine stuff out next month.
Benn, one Labor Day at Kmapart they were selling Xmas stuff ! in the 70s..
I saw Halloween stuff for sale at the end of July.
Nah, July 4th will be on Jan 2, 2008!, and Valentines' day July 3rd..
First Xmas ad seen: Halloween Night (forget who it was for).
My local grocery store began stocking eggnog at least a week ago. The drugstore has had a Christmas aisle for a couple of weeks, too.
Since I'm going to my cousin's wedding in Italy, and will be there from Dec 12 to Dec 23, I started my Christmas shopping in August, and have only two gifts left (one because I needed to get word from the recipient's mom as to what he liked, which I just got yesterday), and one because I'm waiting for Black Friday for the price on the item to go down as part of a sale. No ads or decorations seen by me.
Tis this is the month where if you are still wearing a Santa Claus suit, you are creating a very disturbing aura for yourself
Don't worry, next month the stores will probably start putting up Christmas decorations.
They already have around here.
Joking.
How a bout new years?
They already have around here.>>>>>>
Hope you are joking, because if someone is still wearing a Santa Claus suit during the month of May, that would be extremely disturbing
(Remembers that King of the Hill episode where Bill Dotrive(sp?) wore that decaying Santa Claus suit long after Christmas. Gives me the willies just thinking about it).
Yes, I was joking :P.
I saw Christmas stuff on sale in at least one store around here towards the end of September.
I really wish they'd have the decency to wait until after Thanksgiving.
Or failing that, till after Halloween.
Pretty soon the Xmas stuff will start on July 5.
I saw Christmas stuff on sale in at least one store around here towards the end of September. Pretty soon the Xmas stuff will start on July 5.
quote:
Was it Kohl's? For the past couple of years, it seems that they've been putting their Christmas displays out earlier and earlier. This year, two local Kohl's stores had Christmas displays, including "Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments", up on September 14. Totally ridiculous.
quote:
Don't give them any ideas, Scott. 
This was a Canadian store. I'd rather not say what one because I know people who work there. Let's just say it took me by surprise. Well, maybe not completely ;).