It’s not just me, right?  This year, the harbingers of Christmas have popped up earlier than usual.

Before Halloween candy was on sale, I was hearing Christmas music being piped through mall speakers.  Before pumpkins disappeared from the front of grocery stores, aisles were being lined with wreaths and ornaments.

I have nothing against you, Christmas, but isn’t it a bit premature?  Isn’t it a bit mean to take all that thunder away from not only Thanksgiving, who’s gotten used to being an opening act for you, but also Halloween?  Where’s your Christmas spirit?

My gut tells me that this has something to do with the recession, that retailers are hoping to somehow get people to think that a end-of-year holiday shop-a-thon should actually start three quarters of the way through the year.  I just hope it doesn’t backfire, where people get so tired of being reminded about Christmas for three months that they don’t buy anything in late December.

That would mean our retail market would fall apart and I wouldn’t get any presents.