Item: 1 credit union holiday loan offer

Okay, I'm going to make some pronouncements about the Christmas season and the boundaries thereof.  Some people out there may be under the false impression that the Christmas season has begun.  Allow me to straighten you out.  The Christmas season should begin no earlier than December 1.  While one may stealthily order presents, plan menus or otherwise prepare prior to this, one should not be putting up Christmas decorations when it is still November.  Furthermore, if one operates a radio station, there should not be Christmas music playing before December 1, and there is definitely no need for an all-holiday playlist starting on November 22.  KOST is now featuring calls from people requesting songs such as "O Holy Night," which I don't believe.  I think they're just playing recordings of requests from other years.

Now about endings.  Given the widespread practice of starting things up and stuffing Christmas down everyone's throats as early as possible, by the time December 25 itself is half over, the music has stopped and some antsy people have already taken their trees down and thrown them out onto the sidewalk.  Of course, when you've been gorging on Christmas for a month already, it comes as a relief when you can cut it off at the earliest opportunity.  There is no need to be so abrupt.  If you start Christmas when it's supposed to start, you can also end at the right time, which is anytime between December 26 and 31.  Christmas should taper off gradually.  There should still be Christmas music playing on December 26, maybe a little less on December 27, and so forth.  You can take down your decorations anytime in the next week when it feels like the right time, or do it a little at a time.  Christmas is, after all, a celebration.  Do it right and you can celebrate joy to the world and peace on earth and all those things, instead of celebrating the whole thing being over.