Once the breeze blows cooler and the sight of pumpkin spice lattes have taken over every fragrance and coffee shop, we know the fall season has finally arrived. Spirit Halloween stores start to take over any vacant spot in every shopping center they can find and the costume ideas start rolling in. While some people are excited for the spooky season with costumes and scary movies, others are counting down the days to November 1st when they can start singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” without being judged for celebrating too early. Or is November 1st still too early?
For me personally, November 1st and 2nd are Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos). The US is almost 17% Latinx, meaning there are a few million people who celebrate these days as well. Pacific University has a diverse demographic as well, with about 13.5% of the student body being Latinx. Just speaking for myself and my family, these days are not the start of Christmas music. In my eyes, the Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving has turned into a day to spend quality time with the family. Whether one celebrates or not, everything is closed so you are practically forced to spend time with whoever you are with. Yet, not everyone in the US celebrates Thanksgiving due to being different from cultures, religions, or the fact that Thanksgiving is a reminder of genocide this country is founded upon. Whether or not one celebrates it, I’m sure we can all agree that between October 31st and whichever Thursday Thanksgiving falls on, those days feel like true fall. Trees turn their beautiful autumn colors, sweater weather begins, and the days are filled with raking lawns. Plus if you live in the Pacific Northwest, these are the first true days of our famous rainy season.
To me, these fall factors just don’t remind me of Christmas time. I was curious about how many people prefer spooky season over Christmas so I put the question on a poll on my personal Instagram. Being a spooky season person myself, I had a small bias in hoping Halloween would win on this small poll. Interestingly enough, the results were split evenly between both. Of course, this is just based on around 30 people who decided to interact with my story that day, which was posted about a week before Halloween. I wanted to see if the results stayed the same after Halloween, so I posed the question of whether or not the Christmas season should start after Halloween or after Thanksgiving. 56% of voters chose that the Christmas season starts after Halloween, with only 44% voting for after Thanksgiving. This was again after only 30 active voters who decided to vote on my story. Whether or not you celebrate any of these holidays, I’m sure we can all agree that fall is beautiful regardless of what holidays are happening. Also, a perfect time to fight over watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas or Hocus Pocus, then settle on The Nightmare Before Christmas. — Ashley Meza
Photo: Creative Commons Licensed Image from needpix.com
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