Tis the season

... or is it? Christmas seems to be creeping up earlier and earlier each year. I hadn't given it any thought until I heard a radio announcer say this morning that he was at a shopping mall which was already playing Christmas carols and peddling Christmas merchandise. I was momentarily taken aback but quickly pushed this scary concept out of my mind; it's not Christmas for ages.

Upon arriving at work, I was horrified to see a box next to a colleague's desk. It was filled with Christmas decorations. What?!? It's only mid-October, for goodness sake! But it didn't stop there. She eagerly showed me a photo of her Christmas tree from last year, immaculately decorated; it’s already set as her laptop wallpaper. She's desperate to start decorating the office as, apparently, her husband won't let her start at home for a long time yet. (He sounds very wise.) Someone heard Snoopy's Christmas on the radio this morning. And it's only just beginning.

When I first started at my current workplace, one of my new colleagues mentioned how much she loved Christmas and couldn't wait to decorate the office this year. I asked her when she planned to do this. She correctly replied, "December". Whew! However, in light of what I saw this morning, I'm now worried that these two will get together and spur each other on to create a super sparkly Christmas before anyone else has time to object!

Now, don't get me wrong: although I live with The Grinch, I own a Christmas CD or two. I'm not entirely averse to Christmas decorations. I've accepted an invitation for our ukulele orchestra to play at the staff Christmas lunch. I might start thinking about annual leave. I'll do some obligatory Christmas shopping, but I'll do it in December, the month that we celebrate Christmas. Not October. Not even November. There is a website which answers the question, "is it Christmas?" perfectly. Check it out.

Although I suppose it's commercialism gone mad or a sign of the times, I accept that I'm probably alone in my crusade to hold off the Christmas madness until the season is at least genuinely approaching. I figure there's another couple more months before it can legitimately start. So, until then, "bah, humbug!".