Just be glad you aren't in the service or retail industry. When I was a waiter/bartender, they'd start with the Christmas muzak early November. By the third week of December I was ready to put a pen into the eye of anybody singing Christmas carols.

There are many things that I enjoy about the coming holidays. Militant well-wishers and fascist enforcers of merriment are not among them. I really do like many aspects of the holidays, but the pressure to conform just generally annoys me. So much so that I'm sad I've been at my job too long to successfully pass for a Jew. That is a great dodge for people who get in my face w/ high-pressure seasonal joy. I just say I'm Jewish and ask if they want to go to a movie and get Chinese food on the 25th. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person.

Love it, a sig for this Christmas season!

The only holiday music worth listening to is done by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Uhhh... I hate to say this, but where the heck have you guys been for the past like... 4 years? O_o

Thanksgiving officially had its name changed to "Christmas Part 1 (the one without gifts)" a little while back. This is the reason I avoid going to stores and such unless I absolutely need to for the next two months. I have no desire to hear this grab for nearly 1/4 of the year, thanks but no thanks.

My birthday is November 29th so all Christmas music, decorations and shopping plans are ignored until after that. Stupid Christmas, stealing my thunder.

The kids and I were at the mall last week and we ran into - Santa - of all people. He was so lonely, sitting in his big chair. I sent the girls over to give the poor guy a hug and they got lollipops and coloring books for their trouble. I really felt bad for him. It's too early to bring Santa out if Santa is going to spend hours watching people walk past him.

I too have had a few xmas seasons as a retail drone. I think it's pavlovian for us: you hear the music, your blood pressure begins to rise, and fight or flight instinct begins to kick in.

/edit: dhaelis, I guess we posted almost the same thing at the same time

My birthday is a few weeks before Halloween, so I consider this a two week celebration ended with candy and zombie-slut-nurses drinking at my house (over 18 that is)...

I actually love Christmas music for the most part (when I was in high school, one of the highlights of my year was the annual Christmas concerts)... just not for TWO MONTHS. And certainly not 24/7 for TWO MONTHS.

If I had satellite radio or something, I might not care... but I have maybe 2 stations that come in decently where I am during the day (in a format I can stand listening to). One of these switched over, and now I have one station to listen to... and it's mostly junk anyway. Bah. Time to listen to my iPod everywhere I go.

XM, I *think*, had 2 Christmas channels last season. Wonder if they will do it again this year, or stick to just 1 channel.

I have this pavlovian reaction to the first snow I see: I immediately start looking for new Christmas music to listen too. Traditional, downtempo, pop, rock, house, you name it. If there's a Christmas song in any genre I'll end up tracking it down

I want a painting of a sad santa, with full regalia, being ignored at the mall. That's deep.

I have a vast amount of sympathy for anyone working retail this time of year. Long hours, non-stop Xmas muzak and dealing with hordes of little snot head whiny kids and their zombie parents is just pure torture.

In Canada we don't even get the Turkey Day buffer between Halloween and Xmas. The season of manufactured commercialized joy begins November 1st in all it's crapulence...

We have a tradition in the house of listening to the Elvis christmas album while setting up the tree.