It was in late July that I heard the first back to school advertising. I was driving along back roads in Maine, dreaming of a summer that could last forever. Like a thump, reality came crashing in.
But worse shocks awaited me. Among the flyers waiting for me at home was an offer for the Sears Christmas Wish Book for 2008. I can pick the catalog up at a nearby location, and if I order something between August 13 and September 12 worth more than $100, I can I can earn Sears Club points.
It was with a weary heart that I realized the Christmas shopping season was just around the corner. There's a brief reprieve until Hallowe'en is over, and then the floodgates will open.
In a store a few days ago, I heard a young lad complain to his father that the shorts were all gone, while looking at a rack of fall coats. "What if I want to buy shorts?" he said. "It's still summer -- where are the shorts?" I could only silently agree.
Some of these calendar rituals work, and some of them are just habits that have encrusted the media calendar like barnacles on an old boat. [Dare I say a little research would reveal which.]
Instead of calling it the end of summer sale, try the forever summer sale. Because I'm not tired of it yet.
