It's begining to look way too much like Christmas...

It seems like every year, Christmas starts getting hyped earlier. It used to be that Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) was the big start, and then it started creeping up before then. The last couple years I've noticed Target and other stores putting Christmas stuff out right after the back to school stuff. Walking through Target right before Halloween, I felt like Target was just waiting to get this whole Halloween thing over with so they could get it clearanced out and replaced with Christmas stuff. And last week, all the Sunday circulars were sporting great gift and entertaining ideas.

Now, I understand that Christmas is the big time for retailers, and they want to get as many sales as they can. And I guess people must buy stuff early - retailers seldom devote large amounts of shelf space to things nobody buys, so I can't imagine they would put it out if people didn't buy it.

But the expansion of the holiday season from a month to 3 months annoys me. Not because I'm some crank lamenting the commercialization of a sacred holiday, but because by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm tired of it. Part of is that as an adult, it doesn't have the same mythical atmosphere that it did as a kid - I know that Santa isn't coming down the chimney, and I've already bought all the "toys" I want. Christmas is more a time to spend time with family,and I don't need 27 isles full of tinsel and colored lights for that.

And on a side note, I am seriously thinking about sitting Black Friday out this year. In past years, I've made sweeps of stores and bought tons of stuff, mostly to sell on eBay or hamfests. I've been doing black friday since at least 2001, and spent last year on the sidewalk in front of Circuit City. But every year the crowds get bigger and the deals get smaller. This year there are a few decent items, but there are very few Free After Rebate items, and what I've seen doesn't seem worth the effort. There are some great deals on big-ticket items, like $300 laptops, but last year I spent 7 hours shivering outside only to find out that I still wasn't early enough for a $300 laptop. There are still a few stores that haven't had their circulars leaked, so maybe I'll find something, but so far I don't see anything worth it. In previous years, some of the items have made it online overnight, so I may stay up this Black Friday, but it probably will be huddled in front of the macbook at my parent's house, hitting refresh on the best buy website, rather than sitting on the concrete in front of some store.