Exhausted

I can't take it anymore. I can't keep up. Used to be there was one Christmas tree lighting--Rockefeller Center. A big tree, a skating rink, entertainers, lots of tourists, lights pricking the night sky, stunned children.
Wasn't that enough? No, we had to take a good thing and ruin it. Now, every damn park in Manhattan has its own lighting. Even the South Street Seaport has a tree lighting. It has spread to surrounding areas, townships with their own ceremony. Soon each block will have one.
I'm tired of smiling and looking beatific. Tired of oohing and aahing. Maybe if I had kids it would be different. But I see kids at these things who look just as exhausted. It's exactly like what happened with fireworks at July 4. Every stinking town has a fireworks display now.
The smaller the park, the less famous the celebrities at these lighting events. The cast of the recently canceled remake of Charley's Angels was circulating at one event, collecting signatures for a petition to keep the show going. Shameful. And the trees are less than impressive.
Something else that is troublesome is the extension of Black Friday into Thanksgiving itself. Employees have to rush through dinner and report to work later that night, barely able to digest stuffing. I can imagine harried clerks, angry at this blasphemy, vomiting in the aisles at midnight. Why don't these stores offer a full Thanksgiving dinner for a flat fee of $30 and the chance to attack sales before others? Have guests and employees mingle. Set up a piano bar. Michael Feinstein at Target. That's something we all can give thanks for.