{"id":9177,"date":"2014-09-08T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/stop-whining-about-christmas\/"},"modified":"2014-09-09T18:23:51","modified_gmt":"2014-09-09T18:23:51","slug":"stop-whining-about-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/stop-whining-about-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Whining About Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there is a part of Christmas<\/a> I cannot stand it is the complaints. It starts in September when people get on their soapbox about \u201cChristmas creep\u201d just because they see trees and lights<\/a> for sale at Costco. It culminates in November when Nordstrom\u2019s puts up their snotty sign declaring \u201cWe celebrate one holiday at a time<\/em>\u201c. <\/p>\n

Over on a blog called GeekDad.com<\/strong><\/a> Scrooge wants to start a campaign called #NoEarlyXmas. In fist-clenched frustration the guy-with-nothing-else-to-get-his-geek-knickers-in-a-wad-about complains:<\/p>\n

\n

This isn\u2019t about religion \u2013 no \u201cwar on Christmas\u201d pro\/con. It\u2019s just about putting the holiday back where it\u2019s supposed to be: something we start planning for sometime in November, yet which really doesn\u2019t kick into high gear until after Thanksgiving<\/a>. But how do we achieve it?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This guy must be 17 years old. Being a geek, it is guaranteed he doesn\u2019t get out much. I mean \u2014 really?<\/em> <\/p>\n

With Isis chopping off heads in Iraq, with 93 million Americans out of work, with kids hating their school lunches, with the IRS hiding evidence from Congress, with Robin Williams dead and everything about the Dallas Cowboys it\u2019s this<\/em> \u2014 Christmas<\/a> in Costco, Geek Dad? \u2014 that\u2019s chapping your thighs? <\/p>\n

But Geek Dad not alone this fine late summer day complaining about seeing Christmas<\/a> at Costco. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a headline<\/strong><\/a> complaining about supermarkets in Ireland selling mince pies. And another about a UK grocer selling Christmas cards<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n

And be sure to check out the whacked out absurdity at DefendChristmas.com<\/strong><\/a> over the whole Kmart early Christmas<\/a> commercial<\/a> flap. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a news flash to whiners of Christmas<\/a>: get over it<\/em>. <\/p>\n

First of all, this isn\u2019t a save-society-from-ruin kind of thing. Slate.com<\/strong><\/a> had an awesome article last year when the chorus of Christmas<\/a> complainers reached it\u2019s peak pointing out that Christmas<\/a> in stores has a history dating back a century or more. Somehow society and culture have endured. Complaining about this now is senseless. <\/p>\n

Why senseless?<\/p>\n

Christmas<\/a> is on sale. That\u2019s it. <\/p>\n

Go ahead, Geek Dad. Lay off your hashtag long enough to take a drive around your neighborhood. Yeah, right there in the Bay Area. <\/p>\n

Tell me how many Christmas<\/a> lights<\/a> you see. Talk to me about the plethora of Santas, snowmen and Rudolphs displayed on lawns by your neighbors. Just how many carolers have you chased off your porch? How bad is it really there in geekdom?<\/p>\n

You see, Christmas<\/a> doesn\u2019t come from a store. <\/p>\n

Look up a little video called How the Grinch Stole Christmas<\/a><\/em> by Dr. Seuss. I\u2019m sure Youtube has it so even a geek like you can access it. <\/p>\n

Just because stores are selling Christmas<\/a> stuff doesn\u2019t mean society and culture has taken a step back and is actually \u2014 gasp! \u2014 celebrating Christmas<\/a> right now. Oh the humanity!<\/em> <\/p>\n

Still don\u2019t like it? Okay. That\u2019s fine. Then don\u2019t buy it. And by all means, stay out of Costco. <\/p>\n

But be a little more broad in your assessment of Christmas<\/a> creep. Where were you, Geek Dad, when Christmas<\/a> in July was going strong less than 6 weeks ago? Did it bother you that every shopping channel had a \u201cChristmas Showcase\u201d? Did it get your dander up that the Hallmark channel was running Christmas<\/a> movies? Where was your hashtag then? Were you too busy watching pre-season football to even notice?<\/p>\n

What about a couple of weeks ago when Radio City Music Hall shut down traffic in New York City<\/strong><\/a> to parade out Santa<\/a> Claus with the Rockettes? That had to put you on oxygen, for sure. <\/p>\n

But I have deeper questions for you, Geek Dad. Probing questions. <\/p>\n

Where were you when Macy\u2019s put summer swimwear up for sale last January? And why didn\u2019t you take to blogs and hashtags to condemn Valentine\u2019s candy hearts on New Years Eve? Why is it that nobody ever<\/em> complains that back-to-school stuff is sold next to the fireworks? And tell me why all of our social ills are defined in Costco again?<\/p>\n

Just what is so awful about seeing Santa<\/a> in September? Tell me what a bad role model he is. Tell me why he annoys you. Obviously he suffers from over exposure unlike Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus or Kanye West \u2014 pure bastions of societal purity, fine examples of restraint, thrift, industry, honesty and integrity. Why would we ever want a guy like that paraded about one third of the year<\/em>?<\/p>\n

You wanna know what your problem is? You miss your Mommy. You need to suckle at the breast of human awareness and wear the diapers of get-a-clue. There are bigger problems than #NoEarlyXmas. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one cure for this: grab some Dickens, chug some eggnog<\/a> (straight from the carton) and write a letter to Santa<\/a>. Do it now, even though it is only September. There may be hope for you yet. #BringOnChristmas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there is a part of Christmas I cannot stand it is the complaints. It starts in September when people get on their soapbox about \u201cChristmas creep\u201d just because they see trees and lights for sale at Costco. It culminates in November when Nordstrom\u2019s puts up their snotty sign declaring \u201cWe celebrate one holiday at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","iawp_total_views":17,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}