November30,1994
2
Campus Opinion
Editorial: Christmas commercialism has gotten out of hand
by Christina Peoples
With the holiday season fast ap
proaching, the phrase “Christmas is so
commercialized” runs through my
head. And, yes. I’ll agree that Christ
mas is commercialized because it is
now the most important selling season
of the year. Every holiday from Easter
to the once sacred Christmas season is
exploited in some way by our com
mercialized society to fit the purposes
of certain groups.
Christmas is preyed upon by retail
ers who twist its traditions and spirit to
suit their marketing strategies. In the
middle of the summer’s heat, you can
sit in firont of your t.v. and watch a
ragged Santa driving a ramshackle
sleigh pulled by so-called reindeer that
resemble donkeys more than anything
else. And what else would jolly old St.
Nick be advertising than a Christmas in
July sale down at your local furniture
store. What does this kind of twisted
advertising say about the meaning of
Christmas? Christmas is a time for dis
counts on merchandise, so people can
buy more and go farther into debt. The
stores are almost “giving” items away
because they have made the prices so
cheap for the benefit of all of us unsus
pecting consumers.
No one can deny that Christmas is
a time for giving, but not the kind that
the retailers are promoting. God gave
his Son to the world to die for our sins.
Mary gave of herself and willingly bore
the child who she knew would carry
the weight of the world. 'The wise men
gave Jesus gifts that were precious to
them. Even our most celebrated secu
lar figure, Santa Claus, is a representa
tive of selfless giving in the spirit of the
holidays. Children know that he works
all year making toys to reward all the
good little boys and girls without any
reward for himself but some milk and
cookies. Selfless giving is the type of
giving that society should be instilling
in the hearts of its children, not the
giving of material goods until it hurts.
Even now retailers are exploiting
Christmas to draw more customers
into their stores. They have overiooked
Meredith Herald
Editor in Chief
Christina Peoples
Layout Editor Shannon Peterson
Copy Editor Melissa Massengill
Features Editor Clarky Lucas
News Editor AddieTschamler
Photo Editor Jetson
Business Manager..'. Carrie Shaw
Reporters Arinn Dixon, Ashley Peay, Kimberly Zucker,
Keri VanDoren, Kristine Stagg, Melissa Cloer,
Teresa Latham, MeaganCronauer.MarshaTutor,
Shannon Smith
Photographers Laura Ross, Jan Seate
Faculty Consultants Garry Walton, Rod Cockshutt, Nan Miller
Adviser Paula Daniels
Editorial Policy:
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until needed or to choose not to print them.
that late November should be a time to
celebrate the focus on our families and
our abundance of things to be thankful
for — Thanksgiving. The ghosts, gob
lins and witches of Halloween are
barely flying off the shelves before
Santa and his reindeer come flying in
for Christmas. By the first week in
November, malls and stores are cov
ered in red and green with animated
elves waving to passersby as they hurry
to catch the next sale, ^y do stores
rush to deck the halls when they should
be filling the horn of plenty? They are
rushing Christmas to make sure that
every time people enter the mall to
buy something as simple as deodorant,
they will be reminded that there are
only 26 or so shopping days till Christ
mas.
The knowledge that the shopping
clock is ticking away sends mothers
into a panic to get the last Power
Ranger doll off the shelf or to break
into the savings account to buy for
their husbands the gold watch that
may not be there the next time they
come shopping. People get in such a
rush to get through the Christmas sea
son that they forget what the true spirit
of Christmas and giving is all about.
Just take a glance at the Cathy cartoon
in your daily newspaper to see the
Christmas rush mentality in action.
Cathy is always competing with her
co-workers to see who mails their
Christmas cards first, who gets all their
shopping done in alphabetical order
before Halloween, and who finds the
best recipe for fruit cake from their
stacks of Good Housekeeping.
I’m not getting on my soapbox to
preach the evils of Christmas shop
ping. We cannot blame merchants for
taking a beautiful holiday and making
it commercial. Our job is to look under
the gold tinsel and wrapping paper to
see that Christmas’ meaning is still
with us.
An example of the true meaning of
Christmas happens in my hometown,
Roanoke Rapids, every year. In
Roanoke Rapids, there are two dueling
outdoor Christmas decorators. Eariyin
November, you see the wiring and
lights begin to be stapled to the houses.
Next a few plastic light-up Santas and
five-feet candles with Noel painted on
them pop up in the yards. The week
before Thanksgiving, the signs “Santa
stops here” and “Refresh and refuel
withcookiesandreindeerfood” sprout
out of the bushes. Finally, on Thanks
giving night, the dueling decorators
turn on their electrical creations, and
the town’s power fails somewhere.
However, under all this silly dis
play, these people have captured the
meaning of the season. People all over
town drive by the homes after having
ahearty Thanksgiving dinnerwith their
families. The children “ooh” and “ah”
at the wondrous spectacles of lights
and figures, and their faces are price
less. Even the parents who are still
under the hectic strain of Christmas
shopping find warmth in looking at
the scene (not just from the heat of all
the bulbs). By giving their Christmas
scenes to the town, these people have
given a little bit of themselves, which
is the essence of the holiday season.
And if you study the scenes closely
enough, you will notice that in the
center of both of them are plastic
light-up nativity scenes. They don’t
jump out and say that Jesus is the
reason for the season, but deep down
the people who put the nativities in
their yards know it, and they share
that knowledge with the people who
drive by.
This holiday season, instead of
growling about how Christmas has
gotten so commercialized, let’s spend
some time with our families recaptur
ing the Christmas spirit that has never
really left us. Give the gift of self to
those you love the most and don’t try
to find an expensive, quickie gift. Pre
sents are fun and are part of the spirit
too, but giving of yourself is much
cheaper than a Power Ranger doll,
easier to find because it is in your
heart, and worth so much more.
%
Only five more
days of class
until Christmas!
So let's take a deep
breath and brace
ourselves for exams!
Good luck
from the Herald staff!