Those that leave us are never truly gone.

I was going through my dad’s writings and sat for a few hours poring over his wisdom on paper.  So thankful I have these.  My dad was always clicking away at a Royal typewriter.  He wrote weekly for a local paper (in IN), monthly for a magazine (in KY) and bi-monthly for a newspaper (in VA).  He also wrote a book, that I hope to one day get re-published, that was the subject of a 6 week high school curriculum in Florida. He was a brilliant man. 

So, as I went through his writings, I can’t help but share one.  I cherish these works for several reasons.  One being, they are all I have.  He had many more rough drafts, books in progress and nuggets of wisdom but they were burned by a gentleman who shall remain nameless.  That day broke my heart and made me want to break his face.  But, I digress….   Second, I find pieces of him in these writings.  Pieces that help me remember who he was, the way he spoke and sometimes he spoke of me in his works.  Those I treasure most.

This excerpt is from the local newspaper The Leader.  He had a weekly column called “On the Back Side”, clever isn’t it?  (his last name was Back)  He always ended his articles with “Think about it.”

I thought this was appropriate considering the season. So enjoy.

“You might have trouble believing this.  Had I not experienced it, I'd be in the same boat.  It was totally unexpected and caused more than a little irritation to swell up inside of me.

On October 29th, I walked into a nearby department store and what do you think my wondering ears heard?  Are you ready for this? How does Christmas music grab you?  So help me, it was being piped throughout the store.  Honest to goodness Christmas music!  Halloween was yet to be, Thanksgiving a month away, and the store already had attached itself to Christmas like a voracious parasite.

I admit that extremely cynical thoughts competed with the music being forced upon me.  I wondered why we don't eliminate Halloween and Thanksgiving completely and start singing Christmas carols the day after Labor Day?  Nothing like getting an early start on things, is there?  While we're at it, why bother taking down decorations and Christmas trees every year?  What the heck-- leave them up and let's have Christmas the year around.  By comparison, the others really aren’t that important or nearly as lucrative, are they?

Side-long shots aside, doesn’t it seem as though the Christmas season begins earlier every year?  Is it just my longing to see the restoration of good taste and proper homage to the holiday, or was there a time when the merchandizing blitzkrieg associated with Christmas didn't commence until Santa Claus made his initial appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC?  What happened to those times?  Are they really over for good?  Sad to say, they are.  Like so many tradition-filled yesterdays, they're dead and gone.  They were slain by insensitivity, indifference, selfishness, and cut-throat greed.  All killed without remorse or lamentations.

Oh, I know there are some who'll contend there's nothing wrong with playing Christmas music in toy-filled department stores in late October.  They don’t or won’t accept the fact that it is they for whom the music is being played.  On the other hand, if you suggested buying fireworks for the 4th of July in April, you'd be labeled a moron.  Whoever heard of buying 4th of July fireworks in April, for Pete's sake?  Why, you can’t even find them to buy at that time of year.  No, you can't.  However, the Christmas season isn't hamstrung by such inconveniences, is it?  Of course the fact that fireworks don't gobble billions of consumer dollars probably has a lot to do with that.  Christmas is big bucks while all other holidays are small potatoes. The holiest of all holidays is vastly more commercialized than the combined holidays made by man.  Say what you want, but there's something very, very wrong about that.

I hope no on draws the conclusion that I don’t like Christmas.  I enjoy it very much, but there is a time and a season for all things.  October is not the time or season for Christmas carols.  I will enjoy them in December, but I refuse to be moved or motivated by them before I've had the privilege of observing Thanksgiving. It is an affront to the Creator to ignore Thanksgiving and musically honor the birth of Christ while people are in the process of preparing to celebrate Halloween -- a "holiday" which arose out of paganism and is deeply rooted in bizarre superstitions that provide no sane logic to justify annual observance.  The very thought of Christmas being simultaneously associated with witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and ghouls is repugnant and an insult to everyone who possesses reverence for that special holiday.  Furthermore, any retail business establishment that lowers itself to that level in order to increase profits insults the buying public and cheapens the very spirit of Christmas.

Unless dire circumstances force me to change my mind, I will not patronize the store which is the focus of this article.  When I found myself surrounded by Christmas toys and trappings on one side and grotesque Halloween costumes on the other while Christmas music filled the store, that was it for me.  That reflected a cold-blooded greediness the likes of which I've never witnessed.  I've observed the blatant commercialism of Christmas in the past, but I'd never seen it set side by side with Halloween.  That stretched my tolerance well beyond the breaking point.  To be frank, I'd feel guilty if I bought anything from that particular store.  I'd feel as though I was compromising my values and helping tarnish something that should be kept spotlessly pure.

I'm sure it won't be long before other retail establishments begin to hit us with their best shots.  Most have their shelves stocked with toys as this article is being written.  That’s all well and good, I suppose, but I won’t buy anything from any store that bombards me with Christmas carols before Thanksgiving.  As I stated before, there is a time and season for all things.  Let’s keep them in proper perspective and stop allowing the quest for profits to determine the degree of importance we should attach to them. It’s time we got back to thinking for ourselves and stop allowing merchandizers and their gimmicks to influence our decisions and actions.

Think about it.”

-Robert G. Back
 11/08/1987

Some of my dad's writings (the articles I laminated and have an article front and back)