How soon is too soon? A writer investigates the true length of the holiday season

One of the most contentious debates in the American zeitgeist has nothing to do with politics, sports or the Kardashian family. It’s a simple question that, in recent years, has proven difficult to definitively answer: when is it acceptable to start celebrating Christmas?
           
To get to the bottom of it, I set out on an intrepid mission wandering across the streets of Grundy Center and asking anyone within earshot for their opinions. While my highly unscientific survey may not capture the feelings of the nation as a whole, it provided me with some interesting perspectives and made a few people laugh along the way. After all, polls are never wrong, right?
           
Before I get too far, I’ve got to give credit to my girlfriend Kellie for inspiring me to write this piece. On November 5, she decided it was time for our Christmas tree to go up, and no one could tell her otherwise. The last two days, I’ve been awoken to Mariah Carey’s timeless holiday earworm “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and I haven’t even watched the Lions lose on Thanksgiving yet! But alas, it’s her world, and I’m just living in it.
           
“I would’ve put it up the day after Halloween, but I knew you would judge me for it,” she told me. Thank God for her restraint in waiting four days.
           
A consensus quickly emerged during my journey on Friday morning: of the 30 or so people I spoke with, at least 90 percent of them agreed that you should wait until Thanksgiving is over to put up your lights and trees. After one of her fellow employees admitted that her tree, like mine, was already up, Marjean Clemens, who works at the Heronimus, Schmidt, Schroeder, Allen and Geer law office, offered a spirited defense of what she considered an underappreciated holiday.
           
“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I don’t think it gets enough credit,” she said. “And my birthday is on November 21, so if anyone’s going to get a present, it’s going to be me.”
           
Fair enough. Her colleague, Emily Staudacher, gave an extremely lawyerly answer when she replied that she didn’t have strong feelings about it either way, and she doesn’t like turkey. Is there some underlying reason that attorneys never want to talk to me? 
 
On the other hand, there were a few outliers. Pharmacist Dave Stefl said that a lot of people anymore get into the spirit well before Thanksgiving, and as a business owner, it’s practically become a necessity. It’s hard to disagree with him: after walking through shops like Gram’s, Hallmark, Crazy Daisies and Stylish Living, I felt like it was December 23, and I had already forgotten to buy all of my presents for the year.
           
An employee at the Hallmark store added another valid point: with many families separated by thousands of miles and hectic schedules, some choose to celebrate in November, early December or January. The holiday season, like everything else these days, isn’t as cut and dry as it used to be.
           
And finally, Crazy Daisies Owner Connie Stickley endorsed early decoration in a paraphrase of the old hippie slogan: if it feels good, do it.
           
“I’m ready to go the day after Halloween,” she said. “People should celebrate Christmas whenever it’s in their heart.”
           
Whether the incentive for the never ending holiday season is financial, religious, personal or some combination of the three, the perspectives clearly vary widely. Some people love Christmas, and some people find it a moral abomination to even acknowledge its existence before Black Friday. Some people love Independence Day, some love Easter, and IRS agents love April 15. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes.
           
As I stare at the Christmas tree in front of me on November 17, I may not fully understand it, but who am I to judge the way it makes someone else feel—especially when that someone else is a person I see every day and will refer to me as Mr. Grinch if I disagree with her? There are battles that are and aren’t worth fighting in relationships, and in my experience, this one falls into the latter category.
           
So buy gifts, put your tree up, light up your street and sing “Jingle Bells” until the cows come home if that’s what makes you happy. Here in America, we’re all about mindless consumerism and sparring over absolutely anything that could possibly upset us, and luckily, the Christmas—err, “Holiday” season—provides ample opportunities for both. Joy to the world! 
 
Read the story inside the special holiday gift guide section of this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.