The Student News Site of Florida Gulf Coast University

Eagle Media

Eagle Media

Eagle Media

Hold on to your stockings— it’s too early for Christmas decorations

By Julia Bonavita
Photography Editor / Contributing Writer
Arguably, my greatest struggle throughout my three years of living in on-campus housing is the inability to furnish my living room with a real Christmas tree.
Each year, I plead with my roommates, asking them to take the annual pilgrimage with me to Home Depot in search of the perfect tree. I promise them that I’ll water it every day, clean up its messes and symbolically drag it to the curb at the end of the holiday season.
And yet, my cries continue to fall on deaf ears and good-willed arguments, including “Julia, you’re allergic to trees.”
I long for the days when my parents and I would pile into the family’s minivan and trek down the street to pick out what would soon become the Bonavita Family Christmas Tree — very Clark Griswald-esque of us.
But if there is one thing I’m sure of, it’s that my apartment’s tiny, pipe-cleaner resembling tree will not enter the dwelling area until December 1st.
I always cringe when I enter a Target or Costco in mid-October to find Christmas displays next to the skeletons and werewolves — it just feels wrong.
At what point did we start treating Thanksgiving like the forgotten middle sibling in the triage of holidays? I assume we all secretly enjoy gorging ourselves with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and apple pie, so it doesn’t make sense to be so eager to skip right over it.
My parents held to a rigid schedule during the holiday season: October was for Halloween, November brought Thanksgiving, and December was all-you-can-stand Christmas cheer. It almost feels like Santa Claus riding through the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is there primarily to steal the thunder of roasted turkeys throughout America, and I won’t stand for it.
The average lifespan of a live Christmas tree is four weeks, meaning that if you would prefer a luscious, healthy spruce to a dead one for Santa to see when he shimmies down your chimney (or walks in through the front door, since we do live in Florida), then save the tinsel until the weekend after Thanksgiving.
With the oversaturation of holiday products and gifts hitting the shelves, it’s no wonder companies feel the need to push the starting line to the Christmas season further back each year.
Every year, retail giants capitalize on our willingness to pay whatever cost is required to spread good tidings, and it feels as though the holiday shopping season forces consumers to start thinking about their gift-giving earlier and earlier each year.
According to a survey conducted by Deloitte and published by CNBC, holiday retail sales are forecasted to increase from 4.5% to 5% in the 2019 shopping season, costing consumers a hefty $1.1 trillion.
And if that isn’t enough to jingle your bells, major chain corporations, including Target and Walmart, are continuing to migrate to primarily online sales platforms in an attempt to compete with Amazon. 53% of Christmas purchases are projected to be made from online retailers, making holiday shopping (and discounts) easily accessible for those looking to score some deals.However, Christmas is not just a holiday centered around gifts. Each holiday, including Thanksgiving, is meant to be spent with family and friends, not rushed over in an attempt to get the best sales.
I implore everyone who is celebrating this holiday season, to resist the urge to put Michael Bublé’s Christmas album on repeat long before the stockings are hung and take a moment to relish in each celebration. Enjoy trick-or-treating and carving into the Thanksgiving turkey with loved ones and don’t be in such a hurry to get every gift wrapped, decoration out, and tree up.
There will be plenty of time for that, in December.

Story continues below advertisement
Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Eagle Media Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *