Take it down!

It may be 32 degrees outside, but that does not mean that it’s Christmas.

Christmas is on December 25. Today is November 18. Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet!

Why all the uproar? (Some of you already know!) Yesterday, the department assistants on my floor decided to put up our Christmas tree. Mind you, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving (with Mexican food) as a department today. So in essence, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving around the Christmas tree. Need proof?

There it is: the department Christmas tree.

I am not a Scrooge, grinch, or anti-Christmas. I love Christmas. But I love Christmas AFTER Thanksgiving. I don’t listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving and don’t put my tree up until after Thanksgiving. When and why are we in such a freaking hurry to blow right past Thanksgiving? Sure, it doesn’t have the same importance to Christians as Christmas. It doesn’t come with gifts or fun outfits to dress up in like Halloween. But it’s one of my favorite holidays, and it really does bother me that we so often blow right past it without a second look, just an eating stop on the way to Christmas.

I’m formulating a plan to get the tree gone until AFTER Thanksgiving, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. Few people up here seem to agree with my outrage.

I repeat: I do NOT hate Christmas. At all. Not even a little bit. (I think I may have just quoted “10 Things I Hate About You.” Scary!)

So, if you happen to be around me in these next few weeks, let’s not play Christmas music or put up Christmas decorations. Let’s stop and celebrate Thanksgiving with a little, well, thanksgiving.

P.S.: When you are hired in this department, you bring an ornament that somehow represents you to hang on the tree. Here’s mine: