Winter is now approaching the lovely city of Madison, Alabama. While it can be the coldest season of the year, the overwhelming joy of a popular holiday hits just as early as August. Although vacations are near, a seasonal depression is as well. The result? A certain dreaded and celebrated holiday– Christmas. For many, it is the most wonderful time of the year. But is it really?

Christmas is definitely the most mainstream holiday of all time. Take Exhibit A: Christmas music always blaring in most stores and radio stations. I’m sure many people can agree that it can get a bit irritating over time. Are love songs blared everywhere on Valentine’s Day? No. Do you hear Halloween music on every street? Didn’t think so. Thanksgiving doesn’t even have well-known and overplayed anthems, and neither does Easter. All of these holidays have one day, yet Christmas likes to extend it all the way to a couple of months. Countries all around the world celebrate Christmas every year with us. Fun fact: Germany is the root of the whole Christmas tree trend. Christmas decorations are put up in the Philippines as early as July. It doesn’t matter where you go in December, you can never escape Christmas. So it’s settled. This proves that Christmas is the most broadcasted, (as well as overrated), holiday.

Now for Exhibit B, a student response from Nathaniel: “Christmas is a little overrated. It influences people to spend a lot of money on materials. Also, the weather is extremely cold and unbearable. As I have gotten older, I lost the rapture that came with Christmas and stopped understanding why people get so excited about Christmas. It’s another holiday like Easter or Halloween.” All of this is absolutely correct; the whole Christmas season has so many negative aspects that people just love to ignore. Though 59.1% of some students stand with the idea of the holiday, 40.9% feel it is not the best time of the year after all.

The overall disaster of Christmas isn’t hard to notice, yet it is barely discussed. Decorations being displayed way too early is only the start of an apocalypse in the USA. The overpiling parking lots and traffic in America is unreal, as well as the crammed flights. Thanks to the crazy weather up there in the winter, flight delays should be expected at this point. The whole fiasco adds up to stress and lost time with family. 

Adding on to the typical seasonal depression coming in around Christmas, it is also when families tend to fight. Disagreements and arguments can spark from the most random topics, especially politics. No family is perfect, which means everything isn’t always sunshine and rainbows during Christmas family dinners. Breakups, divorces, and family deaths sting even more nearing this happy holiday. And finally, the harsh reality kids need to face soon: Santa Claus isn’t real.