It's Christmas in the Costco Time-Zone!

I admit I love Costco.  There is something so gratifying about buying a year's worth of toilet paper all at once.  And really, who couldn't use a flat of bananas and 5-gallon jar of mayonnaise?

In a country famous for super-sizing, Costco truly embodies the "bigger is better" (and cheaper) philosophy of America, and offers free samples ( =free lunch) to boot. 

I could literally wax poetic on the benefits of shopping warehouse-style, and really do believe that the customer service at Costco reigns supreme.  From the greeting at the door, all the way to Tom, the guy who checks your receipt at the exit and guesses the total (which is NEVER less than $200), the employees create a well-oiled machine designed to maximize both purchases, as well as customer satisfaction. 

So why the rant?  Well, the day I took this photo was September 16, also known as "late summer" in the Northern Hemisphere, and what did I find front and center at Costco???   Christmas decorations!!!

Do I sound old and crotchety if I say that, IN MY DAY, Christmas decorations didn't appear until mid- November?  The manufacturers milked us for everything we were worth for each successive holiday, but the marketing frenzy for each was never overlapping.  Who, in their right mind, needs to see waving Santas and snowflake wrapping paper for more than a month? 

Over the years, the Christmas decorations, which are clearly the most prolific and profitable, began to appear earlier and earlier in the fall to maximize the buying opportunities prior to Christmas.  First, it obliterated Thanksgiving, which is the least decorations-focused of them all, but does provide a pivotal marketing extravaganza for grocery stores.  I think we all took this holiday hijacking in stride, and accepted the Turkey/Santa hodgepodge with tolerance. 

Allowing our beloved retailers to make their annual sales goals on the sweating back of an extended Christmas season makes sense, but what is the threshold?  At what point in the heat of summer do we take a stand, in shorts and tank tops, and say, "Enough is Enough!"

Today, I take that stand.  If there is ONE holiday that I cherish, it's Halloween.  And everyone knows that the antithetical co-marketing of Santa and Skeletons leads to confusion at best, and drug addiction at worst. So, in the name of ethical responsibility and marketing color-coordination, I implore you, Costco, save Christmas until November 1!!