Good Tidings Must Be B(r)ought Well in Advance.

It’s the end of October and that means the Most Wonderful Time of the Year ™ is rapidly approaching.  Huzzah.  Deck the halls. Etc. Etc.  Of course in the Low Countries we first have Sinterklaas.  Celebrated in the Netherlands on the 5^th and in Belgium on the 6^th of December.  Lots of toys.  Of course the American Santa is Sinterklaas (is Father Christmas is Saint Nicolas is any other happy fellow handing out gifts to children in December), just with a different name and different lore attached to it.  More presents!  Joy to the Capitalistic World!

And so, on the first day of December September stores are stocked with Sinterklaas stuff.  Yes!  I kid you not.  September!  The Sinterklaas candies invade the supermarkets in September.  Sinterklaas himself only arrives mid-November.  Good man has been kind enough to send candies ahead of time.  _Well_  ahead of time.  Completely ridiculous.  Refuse to buy anything before it is November.  Even though those candy carrots look very appealing.  Will. Not. Do. It.  Sometimes one has to stick by principles.  Also better for health.  Three months of Sinterklaas candy is bad.  Bad.  Mkay.

Another most annoying aspect of this Way Too Early Holiday Shopping is fact that on day itself it is almost impossible to find something.  In need of some last minute candy because more people on party than anticipated?  Tough luck.  Everything is being tossed out.  But never fear, you can take home some Christmas stuff instead. 

Am not one for holidays.  The idea is nice.  The day off from work is definitely nice.  But other than that.  Not a fan of the Consumeristic Crap that accompanies every holiday.  Increasingly so.  We even get new holidays.  Halloween in the Low Countries? Some smart marketing person decided to get it over here.  Of course, Halloween stems from a Celtic tradition and is ancient as hell (Samhain).  But over here, we didn’t celebrate it.  We have All Saints and All Souls and except from having the yearly visit to the graveyard to put some chrystanths on graves not much is done about it.  Am talking Belgium here. 

In Holland chrysanths seem to be all over the place.  People giving them as gifts for the garden and such.  And all the time I am like.  Why do you gift people the Flower of Death?  Huh?  Lots of fun to be had with cultural differences.  Let’s talk about that some other time.  Now, where was I.  Oh.  Halloween.

All of a sudden, Dutch and Belgian children go trick-or-treating.  Quite sure most of them have no idea what so ever about the why’s and hows.  Parents probably don’t either.  Since a lot of people no longer have a clue as to what is celebrated at Christmas, am sure we can’t expect them to know about the more “vague” holidays.  Except for Valentine’s Day.  Fool proof holiday that.  And silliest of the lot.  So silly that no day off from work is granted.  Le sigh.

Really wonder where all of this is heading.  Seems to get worse every year but we must be reaching a point where it simply can’t get worse.  And no, that is not a dare directed at Smartass Marketing People Out There.  How much can you possibly buy?  Seriously.  Then again.  Things used to be sturdier.  Now they’re made to break.  So you can get a new one.

Am afraid am not completely innocent when it comes to consuming.  It’s very hard not to.  Or maybe it isn’t that hard, but am too lazy.  Sad?  Yes, probably.  At least refuse to buy holiday stuff months before holiday approaches.  And even then.  When Most Wonderful Time of the Year ^TM is there husband will probably have to drag out the decorations on Christmas Eve.  Am a bit grinchy.  Hum.  Then again.  Decorations in my house last.  Still have one from last year standing around.  Muha. 

So, to conclude. Happy Easter!  Be sure to grab your eggs in January.