How is it possible to have “Jingle Bells” stuck in your head before Halloween has even occurred? You remember the Christmas aisles you saw while shopping for spooky decorations three days before Oct. 31. What was wrong with that picture? That’s right — the Christmas decorations accompanying the witches on the store shelves.

Some people, including my family, wait until the week of Halloween to buy decorations. When they get to the store, however, all that awaits them in the “seasonal” section is disappointment. What replaced the Halloween decorations that were just there? Christmas tinsels and wreaths.

So why in the world do corporations try to send you the Christmas spirit months in advance? It is a very important part of their yearly earnings. If they have a good Christmas shopping season, their earnings are good, and their overall year is good. Trying to stay on track for profit is fine. But trying to sell Christmas decorations before Halloween, borders on ridiculous. I have yet to see reindeer and Santa Claus accompany skeletons in someone’s front yard on Halloween — unless they are going for the “Nightmare before Christmas” theme.

Back to my point. When you are trying to find fall or Halloween decorations, it is a huge nuisance to have to locate the remaining shelf of skeletons and black cats in a forest of green and red Christmas decorations. You visit the store, and all you see are tinsel, tinsel, tinsel, wreath, wreath, wreath, ornament, ornament, ornament, until you hit the wall. WAIT! You see that last paper mache pumpkin on the empty shelf at the end of the store after a half-hour of searching. Phew.

In my view, Companies should keep Halloween decorations up until Oct. 31, then Christmas decorations until the 24th. I’m not saying companies shouldn’t take advantage of the long Christmas shopping season. It’s just that a little more restraint would be great.