Christmas time is here
Over the years Starbucks has changed their holiday cups several times, sometimes depending on customer feedback.
Students who ventured off campus in the past week may have noticed the sudden holiday takeover around San Diego. Starbucks has their holiday drinks ready to order, Christmas trees are being displayed in malls, and stores have put their holiday decorations on display. Some may welcome this transition with open arms ready to embrace the holiday season, while others might see this as too early of a start to Christmas.
Working at Bath and Body Works allows senior Abby Schrader to fully embrace “the most wonderful time of the year.”
“I am totally okay with Christmas festivities starting straight after Halloween,” Schrader said. “For me one month isn’t enough time to fully embrace the Christmas season, so I choose to stretch it to two months prior to Dec. 25.”
Schrader believes that the longer she has to celebrate the holiday, the more merry her experience will be.
“Personally, starting to celebrate Christmas early enhances the holiday season for me,” Schrader said. “I love any reason to be festive or excited about something, so extending this season for as long as possible is a plus.”
For those who think starting too early can be repetitive, Schrader argued that everyday occurrences can also be just as repetitive.
“I understand that people might get sick of listening to certain songs or seeing specific commercials that are holiday themed, but if you think about it, this argument could be made any time of the year,” Schrader said. “I have to turn the radio off if ‘Despacito’ comes on.”
Singing Christmas songs is an inherent Christmas tradition for some. Buddy the Elf said it best, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear,” and Schrader could not agree more.
“The decorations, along with the music, are the best part,” Schrader said. “My family has one day set out during the Thanksgiving break where we play Christmas songs and belt them out all day as we hang up our Christmas decorations.”
However, not all students are as excited as Schrader to welcome the Christmas spirit this early in the season. Senior Madylin Miller would prefer for the early celebrations to be delayed for a bit.
“I personally really enjoy Thanksgiving and it kind of bums me out that people tend to skip over this holiday,” Miller said. “[Thanksgiving] is a wholesome holiday whereas in regard to Christmas people might be eager to celebrate just because of the presents. Or it could just be that there aren’t a lot of Thanksgiving decorations.”
Miller believes that decorations are essential to the holiday, but that there is a time and place for them.
“Christmas decorations should be forbidden before Halloween,” Miller said. “People haven’t even had the chance to take down their Halloween decorations before they start purchasing Christmas ones; it’s a weird combination.”
Although Miller acknowledged some of the positives of being surrounded by premature holiday decorations while away at college.
“My roommate is one of the people who the day after Halloween, I will come back to my apartment and Christmas decorations have exploded everywhere,” Miller said. “I think it is helpful to have holiday decorations up throughout the year. It makes it feel homier and happy while we are going through hard times at school away from our families.”
Meanwhile, there are other Toreros, such as senior Nicole Tellini, who fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum and have more neutral perspectives of the timing people should start celebrating.
“It’s crazy how early you start seeing Christmas-related products nowadays,” Tellini said. “It seems like it gets earlier and earlier each year. But if that’s what you like then okay, I think everyone should celebrate how and when they want to.”
The earlier start to Christmas celebrations only means more time to embrace the holly-jolly holiday.
“I love the early start to Christmas,” Tellini said. “I think it is so fun getting into the spirit of the holidays early. Instead of only getting to celebrate it for one month, I get to enjoy it for double the amount of time.”
Wherever students lie on the spectrum of holiday cheer, the beginning of November means that Christmas is officially here, so Toreros should be prepared to ‘tis the season. Some students might even call someone a “cotton-headed ninny-muggin” for not willingly embracing the early onset of Christmas festivities. But on the other hand, some may want to take the celebrations one holiday at a time.