Starbucks? They’re pikers in the War on Christmas

Last updated on: November 15, 2015 at 4:37 pm by Jane the Actuary

Starbucks? They’re pikers in the War on Christmas 2015-11-15T16:37:01-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RedPlasticCup.jpg

Red cups, eh? Yes, some of us are outraged at the Red Cup Scandal at Starbucks. Others are outraged that anyone should be outraged. Most of us, thankfully, are fundamentally indifferent to whether Starbucks has bows or ornaments or snowflakes, or nothing at all, on its cups in November, December, April, or any other time of year.

You want something to get outraged about? Or, more precisely, to mock and/or roll your eyes at? Take a gander at the Marvel Avengers and Disney Princess Advent calendars for sale at a store near you (and, in fact, photographed while grocery shopping, with my son holding them up) — or rather, the “Holiday Countdown Calendars,” to be used, I suppose, for counting down the 24 days preceding, oh, whatever holiday just happens to occur on the 25th of some month or another. Could be a countdown to Passover or Yom Kippur or Ramadan or Thanksgiving or Memorial Day whenever the calendar cooperates. Or, by sheer coincidence, they could be used for Christmas.

In all seriousness, though, this is where we’re headed; the “nones” largely grew up in semi-religious households, though they wandered away. But for the most part, except for anecdotal exceptions, aren’t they raising their children with stories of Santa, maybe, at most, but otherwise no real understanding of why Christmas, or, rather, The December 25th Holiday, is celebrated except for as a traditional, if arbitrary point on the calendar at which we give children and service providers gifts and exchange gifts with adult family and friends, and bake cookies and have an elaborate family meal? Heck, it’s my understanding that many families acknowledge that arbitrariness by scheduling “Christmas” at a more convenient time somewhere in November or December.

As for my family, I picked up an Advent calendar elsewhere:

Update: went to Target today. Seems to be a Disney thing to sell “holiday countdown calendars” as they offered one for Frozen there as well. And for the Star Wars version, they avoided the whole question of what a package with 24 chocolates hidden behind windows might be about, as there was nothing on the product that identified what it was at all, except for “24 chocolates.” I’d show you pictures but I figured I’d pluck them off the Target website, and they’re not there.

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