It's the most.. wonderful time of the year

This past Friday was the official start of the holidays for me. Too bad we have already been experiencing the ads, the displays and in some places, the songs for close to a month. I guess I'm still burned out on Christmas after working retail in high school and college. All the marketing people that think it's a great idea to get a jump on Christmas advertising in stores need to work in their own stores during that time and subject themselves to their own water torture. After hearing Feliz Navidad for the fifth time in an hour people begin associating "I want to wish you a Merry Christmas" with "I want to wish you life of torture". Not having worked for a church, I can only imagine it's the same way there. Well, the same but without Feliz Navidad, unless the pastor is a sadist. Actually, I kind of know it's that way. My mom is in charge of the children's choirs at her church and she always seems on edge until they are finished singing on Christmas Eve. I know other who work(ed) at churches and it sounds like all the additional work drives the Christmas spirit out of them as well. It's not like any of us WANT to be annoyed by the holiday, we just are. What is sad to me is that even though I am no longer working in retail, I am still jaded about the holidays. Part of it is a conditional response after the six years of retail. The other part is just a growing sense of bitterness towards the commercialization/exploitation of such a wonderful day. So far this year, the bitterness has been relatively tame, I am hoping it stays that way.