Spare me, please, writes Clinton Rogers.
I’m still basking in the still-pretty-warm glow of late summer sunshine (yes, I know the rains have returned) and already I’m hearing the less-than-faint strains of Jingle Bells.
Do my eyes deceive me?
Have I lost track of time?
Is the month not still September?
I was walking through a garden centre close to my home, with September digits still in single figures, and racks of Christmas cards confronted me.
Really?
Well, I have the pictures to prove it.
The wasps haven’t yet given up their annual campaign of harassment, and summer hanging baskets are still in glorious colour (well, mine is).
Yet here we are being gently nudged – well, maybe not so gently – towards thoughts of roast turkey and Brussels sprouts.
Is it my imagination, or are we being hurried through the seasons faster than ever?
I’m sure not so long ago shops would have held off at least until bonfire night before dangling the tinsel in front of our noses.
But now the race seems to be on to see who can get the mince pies (or Christmas cards) out first.
Of course, the retailers have their reasons.
They will tell you people like to spread the cost, especially in these straitened times.
They will tell you that supply chains are smoother when stock deliveries are staggered.
And maybe that’s true.
Of course, it’s also true that all retailers are facing tougher times, with the Internet constantly eroding their profit margins.
I do have a bee in my bonnet about that.
We are all partly to blame for the demise of the High Street.
And I will do my best this year to make sure my Christmas shopping is done locally, but it will be at Christmas time – not September!
I get it that the retailers need to grasp any marketing opportunity they can.
And traditionally, Christmas is a big one for them.
Yet surely by stretching the Christmas period ever further, they are diluting that marketing opportunity.
And so it goes on, the annual dance between retailers eager to get us spending and consumers torn between irritation and temptation!
If Christmas can start in September (before we’ve even got Halloween out of the way), will Easter now be hopping into view on New Year’s Day?
Will the chocolate eggs appear before the wrapping paper is cleared away?
That may sound ridiculous.
But once upon a time so did the idea of stocking up on Christmas cards while the leaves were still on the trees.
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