Column - Stores don’t market holidays during appropriate times

There it stood, its spiky appendages towering over me, threatening to drag me into the bulk of its quills, craving to scratch my face and arms. Its punitive odor paralyzed my senses as it quickly lulled me into an unconscious state.

With its blinding, rapidly blinking features causing temporary blindness, I felt a quick quake through my body. Amidst the gruesome ambiance of Halloween decorations, a cheery Christmas corner stood out as rose does among thorns.

Although many super stores – such as Kroger, Wal-Mart, Target and Sam's Club – understandably over stock and over prepare for the busy holiday season, it was to my surprise that I caught a glimpse of glitter, smelled the scent and felt the feeling of Christmas – two weeks before Halloween.

Indeed, Christmas has come too early for Morgantown and the rest of the county.

Trick-or-treaters had barely left Utah's Layton Hills Mall before Christmas decorations appeared in around the shopping center, according to Jasen Asay's recent article in the Standard Examiner, "Do malls get in the Christmas spirit too early?"

Galen Spencer, Layton Hills Mall manager, stated in the article that, "As soon as we closed the doors on (Halloween) night and opened the doors Tuesday morning, we started setting up the Christmas decorations."

Because of the multiple holiday celebrations during the fall and winter seasons, we, as a community, need to take the time to recognize and appreciate our holidays at hand before we rush past these monumental milestones as commercial celebrations.

Decorating is crucial to the holiday season. I enjoy the lights, decorations and smells that trigger many happy memories with my family. But when I cannot even enjoy the present holiday because of the intrusion from another holiday, my feelings are neutralized.

For many, the early decorations and commercials desensitize the holiday season. According to the BBC News Talking Point, early decorations and commercials invoke premature pressures to buy presents and an emphasis on consuming lots of food and drink.

On the other hand, it takes a lot of effort and time to decorate for the most wonderful time of the year. Utah's Newgate Mall general manager Brent Parkin has been busily decorating for Christmas since August.

Because many winter holidays, especially Christmas, employ vast amounts of decorations, mall management must decorate quickly in order to beat the rush of shoppers hoping to quickly transition between Halloween to Thanksgiving to the various winter celebrations.

Once the shoppers begin to overpopulate the stores, decorating becomes impossible and a safety hazard.

This year alone, Halloween was on a Monday, Thanksgiving is on a Thursday (as always), Christmas Eve is on a Saturday and Christmas Day is on a Sunday.

Hanukkah begins Tuesday, Dec. 20, and ends at sunset on Wednesday, Dec. 28, and New Years Eve is that Saturday evening. This sporadic mix of days is shocking to the consumers as well as employees in terms of preparation for the holiday season.

Stores need at least two weeks in advance in order to fully decorate.

But with this jumble days, decorating for major commercial holidays, such as Christmas, has needed to start as early as October to produce the full effect of the holiday season.

As early as Nov. 12th, the Newgate Mall will have Santa's first visit.

For me, I don't even think about Santa's arrival until he's in Time Square during the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

That is when the holiday season should explode. But, with Santa visits and countdown to countdown TV specials, we are forgetting that these winter holidays have hardly touched the horizon.

The holiday seasons will quickly come and go, so enjoy the holiday at its time. There is no need to rush the reindeer, curse the carolers or trim the tree yet.

As we quickly approach Thanksgiving break and finals, do not let the holiday hocus-pocus deviate from your focus.

As Charlie Brown and his droopy Christmas tree have taught us, it is not what you celebrate with but how you celebrate that makes the holidays special.