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Date: 11/22/2019
Hello Reminder readers – for those of you who may not recognize my byline (you probably should by now if you’re a regular reader) I’m Payton North – the Assistant Managing Editor at Reminder Publishing’s “East” office. Normally I don’t show up in the opinion section of our papers...but I have a bone to pick.
A few weeks ago in the newsroom, right before Halloween, I excitedly shared with my coworkers that “Christmas was only 68 days away!” My statement was met with groans and downright contempt. “Payton, why would you say that? Get out of here,” one coworker said. Another told me I couldn’t start celebrating the holiday season until “after the bird had been roasted.”
I asked, “Why? It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
While no one had a clear reason why I couldn’t start to think about the holidays, one thing was clear – I work with a bunch of scrooges.
Nonetheless, being pro–holidays, I insisted that on Nov. 1 I was going to pull out my Christmas decorations for my desk in the office. My coworkers laughed at me because they thought I was kidding.
I wasn’t.
At the end of the day on Halloween, after all of my fellow writers had left for the evening, I pulled out my two small, white Christmas trees adorned with pink glittery ornaments and a silver, also sparkly, “let it snow” banner from my cabinet. I began my countdown to Christmas on my desk’s letter board.
Oddly enough, on Nov. 1 at the start of our workday, not a single soul was amused with my décor. I shared with my coworkers that when I was getting ready for work that morning I had listened to a pop–Christmas music station. One of my coworkers confided in me something that I still haven’t recovered from weeks later.
“Ninety–nine percent of Christmas music is trash,” he said.
Bing Crosby. Michael Bublé. Frank Sinatra. Mariah Carey. Nat King Cole. Ariana Grande. Elvis Presley. Taylor Swift. What do all of these famous singers have in common?
They’ve all released incredibly popular Christmas albums.
Heck – even Justin Bieber released a Christmas album that was considered successful.
How is it possible that someone could say such a broad – and in my opinion – dense, statement?
Now I can understand that today’s “pop–holiday” tunes may not be for everyone. My mom, Laurie, grew up on Perry Como, Tony Bennett and Anthony Newley’s Christmas albums, and I’m guessing many of our readers did as well. I get it – the classics are true gems. It’s hard to compare the new versions of songs to the originals.
For years my mom has shared her love for Christmas music with me. I distinctly remember being a little girl and cleaning our living room in preparation for company on Christmas day. We had five different Christmas albums on rotation, some classics, some pop, some country. We didn’t discriminate genres; we loved them all. We’d sing together, and it’s a memory I look back on fondly. (Yes – one of my favorite childhood memories is cleaning with my mother.)
When my coworker told me “Christmas music is trash,” it was a shot at my childhood. “How can you deny the classics?” I retorted. “What about Michael Bublé? He’s practically the king of today’s Christmas music!”
He promptly responded, “Michael Bublé is the worst.” He then followed up to add that he believes Bublé is a “glorified coffee shop singer.”
I stopped arguing with him because clearly we don’t see eye to eye on this topic. I am thoroughly disappointed, though. I associate Christmas music with – as cheesy as it sounds – feelings of warmth and happiness, family time and the excitement of giving someone you care about a heartfelt gift.
The holidays are a time of togetherness and spending time with the people you love the most. It’s a season that I look to extend because of all of the wonderful feelings I associate with it. Also – aside from the corny stuff I just mentioned – the month of December passes by quickly as an adult. When I was a kid, it took forever to get to Christmas day. Now–a–day’s, I, like most people who celebrate the season, spend the month of December buzzing around, cleaning, cooking and wrapping presents. There’s a lot less time to sit back and enjoy the season as an adult!
So readers, I implore you to tell me your thoughts on holiday music, and also your thoughts on extending the season. Do you love Christmas music? Do you hate it? Do you hate people who celebrate the holidays beyond the confines of December? Send me an email at payton@thereminder.com. Let me know how I did in my first–ever opinion column for this fine newspaper. And thanks, Mike, for being kind enough to give your Assistant Managing Editor a soapbox to stand on this week.