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All I Want For Christmas is (to Wait Until After Thanksgiving)

Published 7 years ago 7y ago • Bookmarks: 7

Don’t Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle

by Kevin Ptacek

It’s the day after Halloween and I’m driving to Wal-Mart to buy all of the Halloween candy that is marked 50 percent off, when all of sudden, the radio starts playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” I quickly change the station, thinking, Thanksgiving hasn’t even passed, why is Christmas music on the radio? I finally arrive at Wal-Mart and I am greeted by an oversized blow-up Santa and his little elf.

Now-a-days, people are so excited for Christmas and presents, including my unceremonious girlfriend, that they completely forget about a very important holiday…Thanksgiving. The day people gather around a table, eat a giant meal and are thankful for everything and everyone they have in their lives. Sadly, this day is slowly becoming obsolete as more people and stores skip straight into Christmas.

Kevin prepared a slideshow featuring important reasons not to forget about the Thanksgiving holiday. Photo courtesy Trevor Jost.

No longer do people sit around a table and laugh with family friends. No longer do people prepare a Thanksgiving feast the night before. Now it’s all about Christmas shopping, getting the best deals and listening to music. Christmas is overshadowing the short Thanksgiving season.

I have a very strict rule when it comes to Christmas music: don’t listen to it until after Thanksgiving. If you are in my car or my apartment and start playing Christmas music, you are subject to being kicked out. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, the music, the shopping, putting up the tree, decorating the house. To be honest, it is my favorite time of year. More specifically, my favorite time of year is the day after Thanksgiving, November 26 through the day after Christmas, December 26. That is a month of holiday cheer, nothing more, and nothing less.

“While I love Christmas music, and it is my favorite time of the year, I still feel that playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving takes away from the celebration of Thanksgiving,” Trevor Jost, senior, said.

If we start listening to Christmas music too early, we will get sick of it and it will lose its magic. Too much Christmas music will only diminish our Christmas spirit.

Once thanksgiving is over, I vow to play Christmas music every day, set up a tree and begin my Christmas shopping. Until then, please refrain from listening to Christmas music around me or you will be put on the naughty list.

Christmas Cheer All Year

by Catherine Kleiss

Every holiday has it’s build up. We start planning for Easter 40 days before when Lent starts. We spend all of June planning for the fourth of July and Valentine’s Day teddy bears go on sale before I have even given up on my New Year’s resolutions. People love celebrating and having any reason to decorate their front door, which is why Christmas starts November first.

The Christmas holiday is an intense series of events which lead up to the actual Christmas day. It’s more than just a dead tree and eating candy out of socks, it’s (for some people) the celebration of the birth of Christ. For others, it’s the only time they get to see family. And for everyone, it’s when you get to surprise people with presents just because you love them. We can’t get all of this done in a month.

“Why wait and celebrate? It’s such a fun time of year when you get to surprise friends and family with presents. And you get them, too!” Katie Mann, senior, said.

Catherine usually gets her elf jammies on before Kevin can turn off the holiday music. Photo courtesy Billy Stimac.

There is one point my anti-Christmas boyfriend has on me; Technically, Thanksgiving occurs sometime during my Christmastime calendar. I

know, we are being rude to Thanksgiving and all of the Pilgrims who found our great land for us, but I consider this to be more of a Christmas warm-up.

We get to see family and eat food, but please note what we are doing while we eat this meal: wearing Christmas sweaters, listening to Christmas music and talking about the holiday season. It’s clear that we are all anxious for Christmas to be here, and that is why it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Another point I’d like to make about Thanksgiving is that there is not one song for it, and there is not anything I can put on my front door so the neighbors know I’m celebrating. I like fall, I think wearing sweaters and watching football is a great time of the year, but by November, that isn’t happening anymore. We are all listening to Christmas music and making our lists, because it is time for Christmas.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and the sooner we get to celebrate, the more we get to appreciate all of the wonderful people in our lives.