It’s that time of year again! Bring out your wire lights and inflatable Santa dolls for the holiday spirit! The only problem is that this is happening when it is October when we haven’t even started celebrating Halloween.

Not to be a Scrooge, but Christmas needs to step off. This joyous holiday is commercialized before fall has barely begun. Too many commercials are aired with aesthetic snow and big jolly men trying to push the next big products on parents who feel obligated to buy them for their children. Christmas is supposed to be a time for family and love that is found in black-and-white movies and old storybooks, but now it has become a rampage of mall shopping and consumerism that only grows each year. 

I have always hated the consumerism of Christmas. Each present is a testimony of who gives the best gift and who knows you the best. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas as a holiday. I just don’t like how it has been spun as a time to spend more money than the rest of the year. I have always felt bad when given a nice gift, only for me to use it once and store it in a box and never open it up again until next Christmas.

I also hate how decorations are put up way before Thanksgiving. I mean it’s preposterous. Do you see anyone flaunting a heart-shaped balloon of Valentine’s Day before New Year’s Day? I never have, and I hope it never comes to that, but sadly it has happened with Christmas. 

Not only that, but there are more winter holidays than Christmas. Whatever happened to Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? They’re eclipsed by the massive shadow of Christmas. I only see these holidays on my phone calendar when I try to look for them. This only proves that they don’t have any time in the spotlight compared to Christmas.

This mass advertising and demand that comes with Christmas has morphed this holiday into a cash grab by the hottest and most expensive companies trying to push their most new and improved products. This consumer-heavy holiday has taken the stage of winter holidays and has made Hanukkah and Kwanzaa practically non-existent. Christmas has become overrun by the rampant consumerism of the U.S society. Christmas is a nice holiday to celebrate, but it’s hogging too much of the spotlight and should know its place in December.