August 31, 2013: Costco in Rohnert Park, California

Oh no!!!!!!!  Say it isn't soooooooooo!  Christmas stuff is out on August 31st.  It's not even Labor Day yet.  We really are getting ever closer to Christmas in July -- this is Christmas in August.  Can't I enjoy a freakish pagan holiday like the equinox in September without being bombarded with materialistic cues of mass consumption and waste at least until November? 

Forget it.  November is when we now treat Thanksgiving (which used to be sacred and non-materialistic) like Christmas by promoting an orgy of shopping materialism for pre-season sales.

By Christmas there is nothing left to celebrate as we are exhausted and broke.  Wait.  Perhaps in all the months of unchecked hype promoting Christmas beginning in August, we can now center ourselves, slow down,  and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas which is not really about anything commercial at all.

This will not help you in dealing with Uncle Ed's farts, stupid comments, or other annoyances family brings, but at least you can slow down and relish in the company of others.  Not.  LOL.