Classic Rant #375 (November 15, 2010): Way, Way Too Early

Have you noticed that the nation has seemingly gone Christmas-crazy already, and we aren't even at Thanksgiving yet?

It seems that by mid-September, Christmas was being talked about by retailers and others as if the holiday was just around the corner.

Several radio stations have programmed all-Christmas music, I guess to get us in the mood for the holiday.

Now, we are closer to it, but heck, we're only at Nov. 15!

For retailers, last year's Christmas was a bomb of epic proportions. This year, to make sure that this doesn't happen again, many retailers are already giving customers fantastic discounts, and they make no bones about it--they proclaim that "Black Friday" has come early this year with these sales.

People simply are watching their pocketbooks a little more than they were in the past. I know that my family is. We just don't have the ready cash to be going out on shopping 'til we drop.

It simply isn't worth it, and it certainly isn't worth it when we haven't bought our Thanksgiving turkey yet!

This year is an interesting holiday period for us, because since we are Jewish, Hanukkah literally comes right after Thanksgiving this year. We light the first Hanukkah candle on the night of Dec. 1.

So yes, if we want to buy gifts, which we do, there is some urgency to this for us and Jews across the world, as we have two weeks to do so ...

But what's the rush? I was certainly not going to buy holiday gifts in September, or even October.

I will get my gifts when I have some money, which I certainly don't have right now.

All this rushing around for gifts gets to me after a while anyway. Sure, I like to give gifts, but I won't bankrupt myself in doing so.

But Christmas in September or October or November?

Bah humbug!