Context
On my way to work this morning I saw a Lamar billboard with a Christmas theme. Today is October 26th.
Commentary
This billboard bothered me for two reasons. One pertains to what Gregg Easterbrook, author of the wonderful Tuesday Morning Quarterback column for ESPN, calls "Christmas Creep." This is the habit commercial enterprises have of trying to jump start the Christmas season earlier and earlier each year.
I myself refuse to be taken in. During October I celebrate Halloween. The next day I start thinking about Thanksgiving, and only when the last NFL game is completed on that day will I contemplate Christmas. Every holiday deserves its due and I will not have them running over each other!
Quick digression: people often ask me if I'm ready for Christmas. Only if I know them really well do I say what immediately comes to mind: "Ready for the birth of the Savior? Oh, yes!"
The other thing I didn't like about the billboard is that it was a billboard for a billboard company. I understand that everyone feels the need to advertise in order to drum up business, but if Lamar couldn't find anyone interested in using that particular space, why not just take the billboard down? It's not like there aren't 30,000 more of them out there.
What did you see today?
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