Heads Up, Christmas Is Here

How can you tell Christmas is just around the corner? For me, it is the crisp air, the wet leaves (I live in California. Wet leaves is as good as it gets.), and setting up the tree with all the trimmings. But as the years have progressed I have made other connections with the season.

Increased parking lot accidents: The simple act of pulling in and out of a parking spot in an organized, well lit commercial parking lot turns into a Thunderdome rumble.

Ads ripping off Christmas carols: Walking in a 4G wonderland. Its the most wonderful sale of the year. Ugh.

Crappy gift aisles: Pocket knife/cell phone charger combos, boxers in Tabasco sauce containers, Spiderman walkie-talkies with laser pointers, and all the worthless crap that doesn't sell at any other time of the year stuffed into the shelves at the end of each row of other crappy gifts.

Decoration wear: The one thing stores didn't count on when they put up lights in August is that the bulbs weren't designed to last that long. Bulbs out and plastic ornaments missing half their paint and glitter dangling from every rooftop.

The list also includes:
Bod for Men commercials, empty store shelves, looks of panic from other shoppers, long lines leading nowhere and ending even further away, candles in the strangest pages, pledge drives on most radio channels, red and green junk mail (you know, for the holidays), pageants about who knows what, people correcting each other on the most politically correct way to wish people a Merry Christmas, "free" wrapping at the mall, egg nog and peppermint flavored everything from coffee to chapstick to popsicles, animals with Santa hats, cars with antlers, and the list goes on.

How could not be looking forward to the season? As crazy at it might get, I love everything about it.

If you have something to add, list it below for others to see in the comments.