Curse You, Sam Walton!

Why do I still get offended when I hear “Back To School” commercials in July?

That's right, all you school-age loyal readers out there.  Wal-Mart has violated your summer with the first public airing of a Back to School commercial as of today, July 16.  Hope you enjoyed your summer vacation!

It's been a little while since I've been in school.  Even longer since I actually took a summer off and did nothing.  It was a simpler time, but it has come and gone.  I'm now on that more "mature" road of working for a living, so I don't get to take summers off.  Here it is, sunny weather outside, kids are out of school, and I'm churning away in my office.  Such is life.  The pay is a whole lot better than being in school, though, I can tell you that much.  

Back when I was in school and taking summers off to go to camps and swim in pools and ride bikes and sit in front of cartoons all day, the day would ultimately arrive when the first Back to School commercial would come on the tv, effectively ruining the rest of summer.  Once that first horrible store came through the looking glass, the cascade of retailers airing their summer-destroying ads would soon arrive in full force, unleashing a constant reminder that my freedom was but a temporary reprieve.  From then on, I would be subjected to a never-ending stream of commercials declaring the end of summer to be coming soon, despite the fact that they came farther and farther from the end every year.  I found this offensive.  

So here we are, in mid July, and Wal-Mart is the first down the rabbit hole, airing a commercial for their Back to School sale on the radio this morning.  I found it just as horrifying today as I did back in grade school that Summer has barely begun, and already, retailers are announcing it to be ending.   I'm not in school.  My months-long summer vacation is in no danger, since it doesn't exist anymore.  I have no need for Back to School savings.  I haven't spent an entire day watching cartoons in at least a couple weeks.  I just like summer.  Its warm, and I can still go outside and ride bikes and go in pools.  There's a beach on an ocean with my name on it just a few shorts weeks away.  Summer is here, and I've really just gotten used to the idea.  I don't need Wal-Mart to take it away from me just yet.  Jerks.