When is the holiday season supposed to begin? Thanksgiving ends and Christmas is the first thing on peoples’ minds. The mall is decorated with lights and garlands, Christmas music is being played on radio stations, and Starbucks has already brought out their red, holiday-themed cups. It won’t be long until every neighborhood is lit up with twinkling lights and blow up reindeer.

So is this what Christmas is really all about or are people getting the wrong message when it comes to the holiday season?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the hype surrounding the holiday season just as much as the next person, but I only fear that the hype and excitement that we all love, is becoming too focused on the wrong idea.

“People get crazy around the holidays,” said senior Becca Grundy, an employee at American Eagle Outfitters at Montgomery Mall. “A lot of the customers I deal with are not really in the Christmas spirit and seem to care more about the deals.”

The holiday season is undoubtedly a useful time for companies and stores to advertise products, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, is the season of love and giving being completely taken over by this idea of getting the best deals and discounts before everyone else?

People don’t want to wait. The Christmas season now essentially starts right after Halloween and stores are already trying to reel people in with lights and robotic Santa Claus’. Are people missing the point? Or is the commercial hype just the right push that everyone needs to get into the spirit?

“Even though the holidays seem to be centered on the wrong meaning,” student Kate Hornburg, a former employee at Starbucks said. “The idea of giving and being with family is still what brings everyone together.”

This may be true but it’s hard to see the spirit of love and giving in the air when people are running around and getting trampled in stores just to get the last discounted TV on the shelf. The stores are encouraging this too as they spit out commercial after commercial telling people about their major holiday sale there for a limited time only.

The most thoughtful gifts, are not the ones that can be swept of the shelves. This holiday season, everyone should take the extra step to really spend time with family and friends and appreciate all the good things in life. Whether that means curling up next to the fire with the people you love or gathering together to watch a classic Christmas movie by the tree, everyone should embrace the spirit of love and happiness that is so prevalent this time of year.

Whether people focus too much on the commercial side of the holidays or not, the real meaning of Christmas should never be lost. When all is said and done, all of the hype and advertising will not matter and hopefully we can all say that we spent time with the people we love, and took at least one day to sit back and appreciate what’s truly important in life.