Maybe it would be more accurate to say that, like most people in consuming cultures, these students confused the Christian holy day of Christmas with a consumer holiday of the same name. That name may never catch on, but it s a helpful way to distinguish two very different seasons. Christmas is part of a cycle that begins with the First Sunday of Advent and ends only with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The waiting that precedes December 25 and the celebration that continues after it are essential elements of the holy season. The commercial holiday, on the other hand, officially begins with a mad shopping spree on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Many stores open early so consumers can have more time to spend money, which they do.
It s the biggest shopping day of the year, with almost sacred significance in U.S. culture. But the celebration of the commercial holiday doesn t really begin there. Christmas sales seem to start earlier and earlier each year, as do the Christmas store displays designed to spark spending. A few years ago, a newspaper story dated November 8 began, The Christmas season is here, ready or not. But on December 26, Consumas is over, totally.