Commentary by Jon Quick
“Hard to believe summer’s almost over. Happens so fast. Then winter goes on forever.”
“Yep, the kids are back at football practice today. Thursday they will start contact. Fall is here.”
Heard this stuff the other day on TV. Exact words. Hey, news anchors, I got news for you. Summer isn’t over.
Today is the 63rd day of summer. Fall officially begins on Sept. 22. By my count that means there are 30 days of summer left. Point being: Summer is not over!
So why are we rushing it? We complain about winter being so long. So why rush summer? Life moves too fast the way it is.
Media people: You’re guilty of this. Business people: You’re guilty. School ends and it seems the next day the back-to-school stuff is out. I’d bet if I went to Target today, I’d see the Halloween stuff on display. Maybe even the Christmas stuff. I saw a commercial the other day for an “End of the Summer Close-out.” What?!
School administrators: You’re also guilty. Start after Labor Day. Don’t give me this thing about a “balanced calendar” or things need to be staggered for whatever reason, blah blah blah. Doesn’t matter it kills the tourist industry for the final weekend of the summer. Sorry, I am old school. Yes, excuse the pun. Let the kids create those lifelong memories that summer is made of.
It was good to see I’m not alone in this opinion. One of my favorite radio personalities, Eric Garnes on B-105.7, expressed a similar sentiment on Facebook the other day. Most people agreed with him. So Eric, go ahead. Keep playing those summer songs. Over and over and over again.
Besides, my bottle of suntan lotion is only half gone.
Jon Quick is President of the Carmel-based marketing and public relations firm, Q Public Relations & Marketing. You can reach him at [email protected]. He is a former 25+ year manager at both CBS and Emmis Communications
