It seems that each year retailers start putting out Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier. Why do you think they do this, and what is your overal

I think that retailers start putting out Christmas decorations way too early. Also, they start playing Christmas music like two days after Thanksgiving, which is insane. I love me some good ornaments and Santa Baby, but I think it's a little crazy to be putting things up before December 1st even hits. It might be a little more acceptable, I think, if I didn't love Christmas so much. If I'm in a store, and it's mid-November, and I hear Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey singing Baby, It's Cold Outside, I'm ready for snow, and Christmas vacation.
I think that stores do this because then you freak out, and think that Christmas is right around the corner, even if it's still a month away, and you get into the giving mood and start buying everything in bulk. People think that they are running out of time, and because Christmas hasn't truely hit yet, they have a lot of extra money, so they all start thinking of every single person that they need to buy presents for. They start to see things in the store that would just be perfect for their great aunt that lived in Canada, and they buy it, even though they know they won't see her, and will have to mail it to her. Christmas time is madness, but I love it.