Take Advantage Of Holiday Cheer As Soon As You Can: by Lauren Goulet

With less than two months left before Christmas, signs of holiday spirit are already showing. Stores are setting out their decorations and the radio stations have started playing nonstop Christmas music. People are quickly taking notice of the jolly men in red suits waving to children in malls and toy stores, and everyone is feeling the holiday cheer as they take notice of the enormous trees with twinkling lights. These holiday festivities should be regarded with excitement, despite the fact that Christmas will not be here for a while.

“I spend all year looking forward to Christmas; it’s the best holiday of the year,” junior Jeffery Morton said.

As the weather gets colder, the warm feeling of happiness is found everywhere. The holidays put everyone in a cheerful mood, and suddenly strangers are smiling at each other as they walk down the street. Friends and family gather around a warm fire on a cold night, or around a present-filled tree on Christmas morning, and no one can deny that those moments are some of the most special, and can only be shared during the Christmas season. So who is to say that Christmas shouldn’t start a few months early?

“People always seem happier around Christmas, everyone’s in the spirit of giving,” junior Megan Rondini said.

Though it might sound more reasonable to celebrate Thanksgiving before focusing all efforts on Christmas, the Thanksgiving holiday does not call for the same preparations. The hours spent decorating, putting up trees, wrapping presents and putting lights and miniature reindeer on the lawn only come with Christmas.

The Christmas season only comes once a year, so here’s to putting out the decorations on November 1^st and leaving them up well into the New Year. Here’s to waiting for the second Halloween ends, and immediately pulling out the Christmas tree and Santa hats, or keeping Christmas lights and decorations up all year round, even if it’s only in your bedroom. Let the caroling begin. Make the most of Christmas spirit, and make the season last.

When It’s About The Money, It’s Too Soon: by Chase Morris

With Halloween just ending, I was looking around my neighborhood, and I realized something. People are already putting up Christmas decorations. How insane is this? I’m all for the spirit of Christmas, but you should at least wait until after Thanksgiving to put your Christmas decorations up.

People should just take things one holiday at a time. Until November 24^th, people should just focus on Thanksgiving, then after that focus on Christmas. Go crazy with it. Decorate your entire house, have fake snow on your yard. Just wait until December.

Retail stores should abide by the same schedule. Starting in midsummer, back to school clothes come out. Then in September, the Halloween costumes come out, then after that, Thanksgiving decorations, and then Christmas. But it seems like all the stores besides appliance stores are totally skipping over Thanksgiving and going straight to Christmas.

The only reason that Christmas is celebrated so early now is because this is the time of year that department stores make the most money. So while it makes sense for the stores to celebrate it early, do they really have to celebrate it this early in November? And do people really have to put up Christmas decorations in November?

Every single store that celebrates Christmas before the end of November is doing it because of the money factor. I don’t mind Christmas; it’s one of my favorite holidays. But when stores are “celebrating” it to increase their profit, that’s not right.

“The only reason that stores celebrate Christmas so early is to make more money,” sophomore Natalia Longway said.

During November, the major holiday is Thanksgiving, but what is there to sell for Thanksgiving? Food and kitchen appliances are about it, so stores like Best Buy, along with most stores in the mall, are left with nowhere to go until December. If they start celebrating early, and get it in everybody’s heads that it’s Christmas time, then there is enough money to go around.