Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jumping the gun

Sure, we've all started to see Christmas decorations slip in around the Halloween areas of our local department stores. After all, people just can't get enough of that wonderful Santa-themed stuff, and they clamor for it earlier and earlier every year. And, by people, we mean the people that stand to make money off of jump-starting the Christmas season earlier every year. Heck, we wouldn't be surprised to hear that Labor Day eventually gets bumped, too, except it's not anywhere near as commerical of a holiday.

Still, while we may not necessarily like seeing trees, tinsel, and babies in a manger at this time of year, we can't really fault the stores for trying to take advantage of the fact that consumers are shopping earlier, due to the failing economy. Heck, if we owned a store, we'd probably have it loaded up with wreaths and shepherds watching their flocks by night.

But that's no reason for a radio station around St. Louis to surprise listeners over the weekend and start broadcasting Christmas music. The station is claiming that the holiday music is popular all year long, and that people tend to enjoy listening to it. This, of course, doesn't take into account the fact that, in many communities, the only radio stations you can get are playing nothing but Christmas music.

Listen, we're just asking for a little restraint. Sell your decorations, so that people can prepare for the season at hand. Encourage people to stock up on wrapping paper and baking essentials. But can we leave Christmas off of our airwaves?

At this rate, there's nobody that will even play "The Monster Mash" anymore. Which, admittedly, may be a blessing in disguise.

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