Okay, this is just getting strange now. Today is Friday, December 23, the day before Christmas Eve. Yet, the attorney office next door is closed. I found out last night that other firms are closed as well. Walking around the office park, lots of businesses are closed today. Why? When did we start celebrating the Eve of the Eve of Christmas?
In the business world, this is called "creep," you know, the tendency of everything to expand. We have seen "creep" in the retail world, as Christmas decorations go up earlier every year and Christmas ads appear on television before Halloween. In some stores, you now (December) have displays of Valentine's Day candies.
We see "creep" in other areas as well. In sports, they have already completed fan voting for the NFL Pro Bowl, when three weeks were left in the regular season. We have heard of "mission creep" in military situations, where you invade in order to overcome someone and end up doing "nation building" for which your Army is singularly ill-equipped.
As people, we just do not keep things in the boxes where they belong. For years, the only day you took off for Christmas was, well, Christmas Day (remember the scene in A Christmas Carol). It was one day off.
Then, people wanted to leave early on Christmas Eve, so we had stores closing early on Christmas Eve. Then, they wanted the whole day off, so we closed on Christmas Eve. Now, we close on Christmas Eve Eve. (Many law firms will also be closed on the Day After Christmas this year, which is actually a federal holiday.) If there is a "War On Christmas," it is certainly not inhibiting the Creep of Christmas.
Creep is a problem because as things get larger and larger, they become harder and harder to see. As Christmas stops being a special day (and becomes a special four days), it degrades the product.
Think about how you are approaching any holiday you celebrate. What is it really about? Why are you celebrating it at all? What are you doing?
If the unexamined life is not worth living, so the unexamined holiday creep experience must also be a problem. What are you doing this Christmas?
In the business world, this is called "creep," you know, the tendency of everything to expand. We have seen "creep" in the retail world, as Christmas decorations go up earlier every year and Christmas ads appear on television before Halloween. In some stores, you now (December) have displays of Valentine's Day candies.
We see "creep" in other areas as well. In sports, they have already completed fan voting for the NFL Pro Bowl, when three weeks were left in the regular season. We have heard of "mission creep" in military situations, where you invade in order to overcome someone and end up doing "nation building" for which your Army is singularly ill-equipped.
As people, we just do not keep things in the boxes where they belong. For years, the only day you took off for Christmas was, well, Christmas Day (remember the scene in A Christmas Carol). It was one day off.
Then, people wanted to leave early on Christmas Eve, so we had stores closing early on Christmas Eve. Then, they wanted the whole day off, so we closed on Christmas Eve. Now, we close on Christmas Eve Eve. (Many law firms will also be closed on the Day After Christmas this year, which is actually a federal holiday.) If there is a "War On Christmas," it is certainly not inhibiting the Creep of Christmas.
Creep is a problem because as things get larger and larger, they become harder and harder to see. As Christmas stops being a special day (and becomes a special four days), it degrades the product.
Think about how you are approaching any holiday you celebrate. What is it really about? Why are you celebrating it at all? What are you doing?
If the unexamined life is not worth living, so the unexamined holiday creep experience must also be a problem. What are you doing this Christmas?