Christmas Light Controversy When is it socially acceptable to put up Christmas decorations? Simon Hodge Reporter @Hodge_Simon
A
s Halloween passes and November starts you’ll notice large inflatable Santas and Christmas lights popping up everywhere as you drive around. Some Christmas fanatics may spend hundreds of dollars to decorate their front yards and show their Christmas spirit. As November starts however, I believe people get too caught up in the Christmas spirit and forget about what November is all about, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the time to be thankful for everything you have. Thanksgiving is also one of the lesser commercialized major holidays in American society and seeing Christmas decorations up before you celebrate feels apathetic toward the meaning of the holiday. Commercialization drives the Christmas season and it is no help that Black Friday is just one day after Thanksgiving so some people may think of Thanksgiving as just a gateway into their holiday shopping. If you do choose to wait and put decorations up after Thanksgiving it can give you something to look forward to after the holiday. You also bypass getting rid of the excitement of putting decorations up, if you do it too early. In my opinion, it does not feel like you are decorating at all for the Christmas season when you put up your decorations before Thanksgiving. According to Confused two thirds of people say that the Christmas season officially starts in December so when many people see Christmas lights up before Thanksgiving it is bound to cause some people to get annoyed. This can be even worse when you end up seeing or even living next to one of
10 | OPINIONS | WINTER 2021
the homes that gets just a little too into decorating and ends up lighting the entire block up at night. Lighting the entire block up does not just refer to luminescence, it can also be literal. According to nfpa on average there are 160 Christmas tree related fires per year. According to USA Today having trees inside homes earlier just prolongs the risk of something happening, mainly a higher chance of the tree drying out just a few weeks into December. Putting up Christmas decorations early also comes with a risk for bad luck. According to Metro Lifestyle, traditionally Christmas trees were put up on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and if put up any sooner you would be deemed unlucky. At the end of the day it is your call when you put up decorations and as holiday excitement rolls around in November you will probably feel the urge to begin decorating. However, in future years you may take into consideration whether or not you are actually fully experiencing the Thanksgiving holiday prior to moving on to the Christmas season.
