When Christmas was just one month a year

So before I start, I don’t want anyone to misunderstand this piece. I’m the first one to say that I love Christmas, or at least I did before I started having exams in December. Seriously though, it is a great time of year, there’s a buzz, an atmosphere, and it’s a time when we can all let our hair down and enjoy the spirit of things. I’m not complaining about Christmas as such, just what it has become. I’ve never really been particularly interested in the whole religious aspect of the holiday, but that’s more to do with my opinions on religion in general, and I’m not going to go on that particular rant right now. No this is to do with something I’ve noticed around this time of year, for a couple of years now and I saw it again last night when I went into work (I work in Liffey Valley shopping centre in case anyone who doesn’t know actually bothers to read this). Anyway, I walked in and there to my discust, were all the Christmas decorations hanging from the ceilings etc. Seriously, when did Christmas start in November?! If anyone knows please tell me because I must have missed that episode!! Christmas, last time I checked started about half way through December (remember the Twelve days of Christmas?), and like I’ve already said I’m not all that taken with the whole religious side of the affair, but I still don’t think that retailers should be allowed to exploit Christmas by making it into a two month shopping frenzy. It seems to me however that our two month Christmas shopping bonanza is only perpetuated by the greedy consumerist portion of society that I like to call, the middle class. A group who it seems would be only too delighted to see late night shopping all year, and not only at Christmas. The fact is that retailers across the nation are allowed to get away with turning Christmas into their own private money making racket in a way which they can’t do during the rest of the year in a bid to achieve the ultimate goal, 24 hour shopping. Which by the way many stores do now partake in around this time of year. I honestly cannot understand what this obsession that our society has with the need to buy things we don’t need. Christmas only amplifies the consumerist needs of the mob and is exploited by these parasitic retailers who’s only aim in life is to part us from our hard earned. Oh how I long for the days when shops didn’t open on Sundays or bank-holidays. To be honest, the whole notion makes me sick just thinking about it.