From the Mind of Meegs

In general, I find myself in agreement with the screeds against the increasingly early start to the holiday season. I've ever launched a few of them myself.

But this will not be one of them. Because everyone is writing them and I would just HATE to be unoriginal. Instead, I will mentioned a few things that I appreciate, even when they arrive just on the heels of Halloween.

1. Starbucks red coffee cups. I don't know why, but the red cups just make me happy. I enjoy them. I think they're totally bitchin'. Though the red cups were rolled out on election day this year, many weeks in advance of even Thanksgiving, I still welcomed their arrival.

2. Faster Amazon shipping. From about the last week in October until the second week in January, everything you order from Amazon arrives faster than fast, regardless of what shipping speed you choose. It must be a combination of an influx of seasonal workers, a mortal fear of falling behind on their order processing, a desire to engender consumer good will by ensuring all would-be presents arrive in time, and a hope that holiday purchasers will have such a good Amazon experience that they will become year-round customers.

I don't think they advertise the fact that orders are processed faster than usual, or the fact that they will often ship with a shorter transit time than what you paid for. But for those of us who are Amazon junkies, the improvement is both obvious and striking. A few weeks back, I ordered some books. Even though I chose the slowest and cheapest (read: free) method of shipping, my books arrived just two days later.

3. Christmas candy. To be more specific: candy canes, Christmas peeps, Hershey's mint minatures and candy cane kisses, red and green spice drops.