How
are the people selected that decide the appropriate times for
doing things? The people that determine the rules and regulations
and suggestions and more about when this or that or the other
things can be done, or more to the point, when they are acceptable
to be done.
First
things first, I’m not being naive here. To begin, I understand
that business demands and realities can be involved. There actually
are places where people do determine (and are in charge of) how
to schedule to world. Sure, a sweeping generalization there. But
it’s true.
Amazon
isn’t setting up some clock off to the side of the page that outlines
how much time you have to place an order so you can get your shipping
on a specific day completely at random. There’s some work taking
place behind the scenes.
An
airline establishes a guide—say check in twenty-four hours ahead
of first departure of a run of flights on a given day—and generally
sticks pretty true to that. (Not universally, you know. They’re
true to it unless you’re willing to open your wallet and pay them
a bit more for additional considerations that adjust the clock.
If only real time worked that way.)
There
are plenty of places when we do have people making actual decisions
about the realities of time, the schedules we follow, the involvement
of different factors, and the best way to approach organization
and calendars and more. It makes sense—even when the actual application
doesn’t seem to make sense—and we do our best to work with it.
What
has me stumped can best be summed up by the most wonderful time
of the year. You know, August to December. Pumpkin spice and inflatable
polar bears. Everyone has an opinion on when it’s ok to begin
celebrating this holiday or that season, but no one seems to be
in a position to declare an actual moment when a green light has
been lit on holiday activity.
Let’s
be clear, there is no one in charge of that. There is no one with
the power. And while many folks would never extend the most wonderful
time of the year to a span of five months… twenty weeks (or more)…
the majority of people seem to think their opinions on the matter
are the very way it should be.
Still,
none of us truly seem to understand when it’s ok for a store to
begin stocking shelves with Halloween candy or marshmallow Peeps,
or for a radio station to begin playing Christmas music. Some
of us like hearing Alvin asking for a hula hoop over the single
digit days of November, while others want to bash their radio
with a baseball bat if it’s playing on such dates.
Why
does it even matter?
Well,
for one thing, emotions run high. This isn’t something subtle,
like the proper time to begin planting your garden. This isn’t
something hidden, like when you change the oil on your lawn mower.
We
know we’re supposed to wait until after the last threat of frost.
But if you want to head outside because it’s April 15th and plant
your tomatoes, go on and do it.
Some
folks will argue the mower should be cleaned and the oil changed
at the end of the season, before you store it away for winter.
Some will say that it’s all part of breaking it out as better
weather arrives and setting it up for the next run of use.
But
you start turning on the lights in your yard and around your house,
and you’ll find out the neighbors have very strong opinions on
the subject. They don’t believe it’s festive. Nor do they find
it joyous. In many places, if they see you just setting up the
lights, they don’t want to hear about how you don’t want to work
outside on a brutally cold day, nor do they care about a busy
schedule that makes you look outside thinking do it today or it
doesn’t get done. What they care about is that late October is,
to them, too early for Christmas lights. The goes for lighting
them, placing them, even thinking about them.
Who
is in charge of making the holiday call?
Maybe
we need to create an office for such a purpose. Instead of a person,
perhaps a committee. To decide when decorations can be set up
around the home. To give permission for displays in retail outlets.
To provide official guidance on the pros and cons of tinsel. To
determine the line where pumpkin spice crosses from enough to
too much.
Christmas
lights switched on the weekend after Thanksgiving. December holiday
items making their first appearances for sale in November. A limit
on pumpkin spice. It’s nice to think about certified decisions
(and even legal ramifications with some factual backing).
But
it will never happen.
As
long as there are people generating business demands, customers
purchasing more giant peppermint swirls on stakes and illuminated
deer than the monies that would be realized from other items displayed
in the space, it will never happen. Profit rules. Revenue speaks.
And
maybe that’s ok.
For
all those that leave the lights up for the entire year… using
them as props for their Christmas in July parties… I offer a wave
of acknowledgement and nod of appreciation. There are people that
want Peeps available for more occasions that Easter. There’s no
person that should be able to officially limit that.
Instead,
if you’re shaking your head in defiance against it, chances are
good the peanut butter Christmas trees in October aren’t on sale
for you. But someone else is jumping, clapping, and shrieking
in delight.
I’ll
always be a fan of shrieking in delight.