Thanksgiving Comes First

I follow this blog, Suldog (thanks to the "blogs of note" section on Blogger), and I almost always get a kick out the author's posts.  He has an entertaining writing style and I enjoy his colorful (not to be confused with obscene) way of venting and getting things off his chest.

Well, it seems that every Autumn he focuses his efforts on trying to stop commercial advertisements about Christmas that show up before Thanksgiving.  Appropriately enough, and as you might have guessed, he's coined this "movement" Thanksgiving Comes First.  The goal is really just to gather people who are also annoyed by Santa displays in the mall, Christmas carols on the radio, and advertisements of all kinds selling Christmas before we have a chance to even digest our Halloween candy.  There's no push to make any of these activities illegal by any means, it's just an opportunity for like-minded people to voice their opinion that we prefer to enjoy and celebrate one holiday at a time, and that we don't appreciate commercial interests trying to push us to BUY BUY BUY before we wanna.  If enough people are vocal about this preference, maybe retailers will start to listen and hold off on holiday advertising and sales until we clear our Thanksgiving tables (like Nordstrom)!

Anyway, because I've definitely found myself more than a bit peeved about retailers shoving Christmas in my face as early in the year as August, I figured I oughta do my part to spread the word about Thanksgiving Comes First.  I just feel that 1. Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever other winter holiday you may celebrate) would feel a lot more special if we had the same anticipation for it that we did when I was a kid, and if it wasn't dragged out for two months or more; 2. Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday in its own right and it gets the short shrift because of the overwhelming presence of 'Christmas' well before turkey day; and 3. I don't need or want retailers to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner.  They advertise and offer big sales early to make themselves more money, not to do a public service to their shoppers, and frankly it just bugs me.  It's hard enough to keep the focus of holidays in general and Christmas in particular mostly on things that matter, rather than just decorations and presents and spending.  It would be nice to slow things down just a bit, and enjoy each holiday for what it is.

If you agree, like Thanksgiving Comes First on Facebook, and write your own Thanksgiving Comes First blog post to spread the word.