Hi Everyone,
Christmas is once a year and there are some very good reasons why stores prepare for it months in advance. This is what I mean.
Okay even I wonder why some stores begin putting out their Christmas decorations before the school year begins. Just saying. But, but Christmas is not what it used to be when I was growing up. There are so many more decorations for the tree, recipes and gadgets for them, tableware and kitchen ware. Even bathrooms can have Christmas hand towels and toilet paper. Some bathrooms are decorated better than the pictures in Christmas catalogues from when I was a child. It’s true.
There are also more ways to wrap a gift than there are languages. Boxes, bags, cello, and good old wrapping paper need bows, ribbons, cards, tissue paper, tape, or in some instances twine. The variety of the above can be overwhelming to even those who are faced with only two options. “All we have left is the wrapping paper at the front and duct tape. It’s green,” says the store clerk. Thankfully there are more gifts to be given this year than last. Fret not because there will be more gifts to be given next year than this. I am serious.
Everyone is Santa. Some add an extra dose of caution checking their list more than twice while working their last nerve deciding who, in their opinion, has been naughty or nice. Does so-and-so deserves a $15 sweater on sale from $40 that I know they want? Or should I just get them a $15 gift card, from a store I know they hate? Hmmm. Since I can’t decide, I’ll call a few people to see what they think. I don’t want to seem like I need someone to tell me what to do but I need someone to tell me what to do. Hmmm. Who should I call first? Okay, got it. While I am at it, I’ll ask them what they are going to wear there so I’ll know what to wear too.
Deciding what to wear, and who gets what are only a few examples of the many decisions we make. Other things like should we buy a (real) tree and if so, where do we put it? What do we put on it, and what other decorations do we have for all of the other places and unused spaces? By the time some people decide what they want to do, all of the things they wanted to buy are gone. “What is do you mean you don’t have any left?” they ask the store clerk. “You had so many for weeks, maybe even a month and a half,” they continue. “Yes, but it is 10 days before Christmas,” replies the clerk. “Will you get anymore?” asks the customer, “Before Christmas?” The store clerk pauses to assess how they should answer. Honesty, like ripping a bandage off a wound, is their best answer. “It doesn’t look like it,” they say after typing a code into a computer. “Our next shipment isn’t until January 17th.” Every customer has their own response and not all of them are pretty. Parts of their houses, most of their gifts, maybe even some of their outfits are, but some responses shouldn’t be repeated.
So how do I feel when someone tells me, “Can you believe they have Christmas decorations out already?” I think a lot of things. For one why can’t people just be grateful that we have stores that want to give customers the option of the stock they place on their shelves, tables and display in their windows? It, life, is not what it used to be when I was a child. People travel more. Not everyone celebrates Christmas on Christmas day. People are more creative. Not everyone thinks only the tree and the living room should be decorated. People are more demanding, they want to impress themselves as they (supposedly) impress others. Not everyone stops shopping, decorating and cooking when there really isn’t a reason to continue.
And you know what, I get it. Things take time. Christmas is usually an all day event that takes days or weeks to prepare for. If the average person needs longer than 24 hours to get their act together, doesn’t it take stores, large stores, not Mom-and-Pop stores, even longer?
Large stores, especially in North America, have to be like the United Nations of merchandise, shopping. If they don’t have something for everyone, someone, somewhere, will complain that they store near them, whether it is where they live or while visiting, doesn’t have whatever they think they need and the store suffers some form of backlash. But then again, don’t stores suffer if they are too prepared? They do.
Sometime last month, The Bay, Canada’s oldest department store was mentioned in a paper because it had some Christmas decorations, (if I remember correctly) on display on one of their tables on the lower level of their Queen Street, in Toronto. Apparently, some customers were outraged that Christmas was being prepared for. I thought really? People are pissed off, messed up about Christmas decorations? Did anyone stop to think that Nordstrom’s was opening across the street? And right after that UNIQLO was opening beside them a few weeks later? I was excited and can hardly wait to shop there and I hate shopping! The only reason I haven’t bought anything from that store yet is because there are line-ups and it is too crowded. If even one of those stores is going to get to me shopping, what about everyone else? I can’t be the only person who wants to shop at one of those stores. There are line-ups to get into UNIQLO.Maybe Canadian stores want to stay Canadian and the only way they can maintain their market share is to have some Christmas decorations available for their customers.
If some stores that have Christmas decorations available for sale in September still bothers you, then I sincerely hope that you are not going to be the customer who is pissed off that whatever it is that you think you need is sold out when you want to buy it. Apparently you’ve had months to shop. After all, it’s Christmas already, right?
If you are a Canadian, I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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