Christmas too soon?
November 12, 2021
Halloween is always a fun time for all ages, religions and cultures. It is the “be yourself” holiday. After the parties settled, the candy has been sifted through, and all of the children are getting out of their costumes, the media was set on fire by Mariah Carey’s icy “defrosting.” In social media, such as Tiktok, people have begun to celebrate Halloween ending and Christmas beginning, leaving many to wonder where the enthusiasm for Thanksgiving is. Do we write off a holiday with such grimy history for a reason, and how early should the Christmas spirit activate?
Arguably notorious, the Christmas single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey is one of the best selling singles in history. The song averaged 1 million Spotify streams a day from Nov. 24rd to Nov. 29th in 2019 according to the streaming service’s charts. Last year’s Christmas in 2020 broke Spotify’s daily streaming record with 17 million streams. One can observe the data and think, “Why are there so many streams during Thanksgiving?” Well, another may say Christmas is worth it.
Mariah Carey has been in social media’s radar as soon as Halloween was laid to rest at midnight on October 31st.
Mariah Carey Smashing Pumpkins
Delta County has the privilege of being a county surrounded in family holiday traditions, and the students and teachers at Delta High have shown they don’t differ. Senior Laisha Alemon works at Walmart, which is notorious for skipping Thanksgiving and going straight to Black Friday and Christmas decorations. This year, both Walmart and Target chose to close on Thanksgiving, leaving retail tradition.
But Alemon has expressed that she does not think negatively about Christmas overshadowing Thanksgiving. “It’s such a happier season,” Alemon said. “It gets me excited knowing I’m going to be seeing a lot of family soon.” Aleman shared that Delta Walmart staff put Christmas decor up before Halloween. “I love it,” she said.
Is “All I Want For Christmas Is You” really a song worth fighting for? Some say absolutely. Some say to forget about the songs. Ms. DeLisle shared that Christmas is important to her because of her Christmas spirit. This time of year is more than meets the eye. For DeLisle, Christmas is not about materialistic things, but it is a celebration of giving and love. “Anyone can give,” DeLisle said. “It does not matter where you think Christmas came from. I have [a] Christmas spirit all year long.”
DeLisle piped up. She then shared a rhyme from writer Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch: “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.”
Can it be concluded that Walmart, Spotify, and Mariah Carey are not truly Christmas? Christmas begins wherever your heart is, and whenever you’re willing to share it. Delta County must hold onto this deep revelation of the holidays, and let go of the labels and gift wrap, and celebrate giving throughout the year, much like some students and teachers demonstrated.