By Jay Carroll
Staff Writer

It is the holiday season, which means Christmas is just around the corner. Oh wait, we still have Thanksgiving.

It seems like every year we start to see ornaments, trees and other Christmas items already on display in stores when it is only the beginning of November. I saw a house with Christmas lights already up, and City Hall was putting up its lights when?

I do not want to sound like Scrooge; I love the holidays, but it has gotten a little out of hand.

People only truly pay attention and love holidays when they receive gifts, whether it is candy or presents. But what is wrong with a huge family dinner and watching football on Thanksgiving?

Sitting around a big table with your relatives and family members is great. Thanksgiving is for catching up with family and having fun, but no one really seems to care Thanksgiving is being overshadowed by Christmas.

Just the other day, I saw several Christmas commercials and one Thanksgiving commercial, a radio station playing only Christmas music when it is still November, and Macy’s all decked out for Christmas just a few days after Halloween.

What happened to when stores and houses would decorate for Thanksgiving and then put out Christmas decorations? It seems like Christmas commercials would come out right after Thanksgiving, but now they are already out.

I really do like Christmas, but I like to take it one holiday at a time. Only a few days after Thanksgiving does my mom start to decorate the house, hang ornaments on the Christmas trees and put out the Christmas lights.

I am not expecting Thanksgiving to be on the same level as Christmas, but people used to keep pumpkins outside their house and have plastic turkeys or other fall decorations that just make it feel like it is time for Thanksgiving; but now that does not even happen. Thanksgiving should go back to receiving a little more recognition, because it is definitely overshadowed and almost forgotten.

Granted there are not many Thanksgiving traditions besides cooking a turkey and watching football, while Christmas has many traditions such as going to look at and put up Christmas lights, hanging ornaments on the tree, opening presents, leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, and I guess that makes Christmas more enjoyable than Thanksgiving, because of all the build up.

If you ask some students what day of November Thanksgiving is on, only a few of them would not say the fourth Thursday. But you ask them what day Christmas is they would say without hesitation, Dec. 25.

While Christmas may be more enjoyable, there should not be commercials or decoration up before Thanksgiving. It is some people’s favorite holiday, and you do not see any other holidays being advertised more than a month before than the actual holiday.

Sometimes people need to calm down and take it one step at a time. Or in this case, one holiday at a time.