Run by a Big Eastern Syndicate

It’s November 21^st and I’m a little worried. I am unexcited about Christmas. I am less than unexcited about Christmas. I am actually indifferent and somewhat resentful about it. I’m almost—dare I say?—dreading it. I’m normally so pumped about it that I feel like a thoroughbred penned in the starting gate: I can hardly stand to stand still. I hold off from respect for Remembrance Day, but after the 12^th, I should be off at a frenzied gallop.

Shouldn’t I?

Well, yeah. The Christmas CDs are out and the annual jigsaw puzzle is already done. The city lampposts are dressed in their festive finery. Window displays are ablaze with holiday cheer. I’ve had three eggnog lattes this past week alone and the Tannenbaum trimming is scheduled for the first weekend in December (or maybe the third one in November) ... yet I can do no more than get stressed about the pending stress of the holidays. The effort, the energy, the expense of putting on the glitz. I can’t think about any of it without wanting to fall into a ditch and let the season pass me by.

I love Christmas. Truly, I do. I love the lights and the music and the food and the socializing. In fact, I love everything that I’m dreading.

I’m not alone in the malaise department, either. Almost everyone I’ve talked to of late feels a similar lack of enthusiasm and equal consternation ... except for one. When I expressed my dismay to a co-worker, she dismissed me with a flippant, “I never get into the spirit until my house is decorated and that won’t happen until December.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but I can’t even think about going there.”

“Of course not!” she replied, half-amused and half-amusing. “Ruthie, it’s way too early to think about Christmas!” She reminded me that it’s barely past mid-November and December 1 is early enough to start the festivities. Or, as she put it, “Three weeks is plenty of time to get ’er done!”

Talking with her really helped to alleviate some of my angst. For one thing, I realized that she’s right. It is too early! Just because the stores were decorated on November 1^st doesn’t mean I have to get on board as well. And do not get me started on Black Friday. I’ve heard that retailers are under orders from head office to get the season started ASAP, so they can rake in big profits before people figure out that they don’t have to mortgage the house to pay for Christmas ... but please. It shouldn’t be about the ka-ching.

Dental drugs and a full moon may be partially to blame, but I totally fell for the hype that demands I get into the shopping-socializing-decorating spirit before I’m ready. And I let it depress me! I was angry about the occasion when I should be angry at the suits, the fat cats with the fat salaries who apply the pressure to spend spend spend before it’s too late. Well, now I’m on to them. Crass commercialism will not ruin the season for this Christmas junkie. And now that I have regained control of my fest-destiny, I’m starting to get jolly ... on my terms.