Viewpoint: ‘Tis the Season

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Maybe you’re still recovering from a sugar-induced coma, but I hope this Halloween treated you well.

I hope you were able to fill yourself with candy, cookies, donuts and those little cupcakes topped with the pumpkin shaped ring.

Whether you hurried to a spooky haunted house, hit up a few costume-required parties or hid from the ghosts and the ghouls in your room while studying for a poorly timed test, I hope you made it to November safely, in one piece and with enough candy to last you until Christmas.

Unless, of course, you eat it all — then it might behoove you to know Halloween candy will probably be 75 percent off tomorrow.

Don’t get there too late.

But that was October, wasn’t it? Now we’re in November, a new month, a new season and a new holiday — Christmas!

Deck the halls with holly, put cinnamon in your hot chocolate and try to find someone who you can beg a ride home with for the holidays,

Oh wait, did I miss something?

No, I’m relatively certain there’s only one holiday left in the year. One holiday until New Years. One holiday until 2012.

If there were more holidays, why would I have seen red and green M&M’s next to the orange and black ones?

Why would everyone be updating Facebook statuses about how they are listening to Christmas music for the first time since last year?

Why would Michael Buble have come out with his newly released Christmas single already?

Why would “Jingle Bells” be on incessant repeat in the apparently broken iPod of my mind?

It just has to be Christmas time.

But let me take a detailed look at my calendar.

After careful study (often with the help of a magnifying glass) I’ve discovered two relatively large holidays I don’t think should have been lost in the wake of Christmas/holiday shopping.

The first is Veteran’s Day.

In our haste to trim the tree and deck the halls we forget about those who sacrificed their time, energy, health and possibly lives to protect our freedom and country.

We forgot about the one day a year we set aside to celebrate a group of people we should be celebrating every day of our lives.

The second is Thanksgiving.

Maybe we’ve gotten a little confused at the details between the pilgrims, the Indians, the corn and the turkey, but the point is still completely clear — remember to be thankful, remember to be grateful, remember to never forget all the blessings you have received this year.

It’s another one of those holidays where we remember to do something we were supposed to be doing all year.

There are other holidays in there — lodged between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 — but I just felt the need to highlight these two.

Maybe it’s because I feel bad for those other holidays, I wish they’d be able to have their 24 hours of fame, wish they’d be able to shine in their deserved spotlight.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been blessed by a veteran and don’t want him, or the rest of them, to feel as if we don’t care about the incredible things they have done for us.

Maybe it’s because I like turkey.

Whatever it is, I know this.

Christmas has a message worth rushing into, but these other holidays are no different.

I know no one can get enough of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” or fa-la-la-ing, but at some point we have to realize it will be better if we just wait.

So, I hope you had a happy Halloween. In a few weeks, I’ll wish you a happy Veteran’s Day. I’ll try and remind you to thank a soldier.

In the meantime, enjoy your candy, pull down the spider webs and paper bats and try to refrain from turning your radio to the All Holiday channel.

For today.

Allie McCoy is the opinion editor for The Daily Universe. This viewpoint represents her opinion and not necessarily that of The Daily Universe, BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


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