It’s the holiday season once again, but Christmas is taking over. Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened, but stores have already stacked their shelves with Christmas stuff, communities have already covered their trees with lights, and radio stations have already started playing Christmas music. This is not okay.
Kosi 101.1, a local radio station, prides itself for being the first station to start playing Christmas music. They are definitely the first, but how early is too early? Nov. 8 at 4:45 p.m. is too early. That’s almost two months before Christmas and almost three weeks before Thanksgiving. They are completely skipping over a holiday that is arguably one of the most important holidays.
Thanksgiving is all about taking the time to stop and think about all the things you are thankful for. Negative thoughts can be harmful and overwhelming, so stopping to think about the positive things can help people remember that they are loved and life isn’t completely pointless. With Christmas looming over Thanksgiving, it can be hard to think about the positive because seeing the stores stocked with Christmas decorations is like constantly having a reminder that you have to buy all these presents for people in order to please them and these thoughts can cause stress.
Once all the stores start stocking up, the big companies begin the race to have the first Christmas lights. The lights began popping up on the streets in early November when they could have been putting up blow up turkeys or other cute Thanksgiving decorations. People have even started putting up their personal decorations because of these big companies, which shows that people are influenced by these companies and are helping overshadow Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving deserves so much more appreciation than it’s getting. It is a time where people get to see more family than the rest of the year. It is one of the most charitable holidays, too. It inspires people to be kind to others and it creates a better environment. Plus, it provides another week off of school.
People need to slow Christmas down and stop minimizing Thanksgiving. It is an important holiday that needs to be shown a little more appreciation. It’s not that hard to wait three weeks to put up Christmas decorations.
Carlynn Claypool, Community Chair
