UNITED STATES—Oh my, I am baffled beyond being baffled people. It is only the middle of July and a vast majority of retailers have already unleashed their back to school section in their stores. I always find this odd and can never make sense of things. School for most kids just ended less than 3-4 weeks ago, and parents and kids have to be reminded school is slated to begin in about 6 weeks.

That is indeed crazy right? Or is it just me. I would think most retailers would not start to push those products until the first or middle of August. It just shows that as Americans we are so programmed year round of various holidays and what we should expect moving forward. I mean school kicks off in September, October is all about Halloween, November will kick off Thanksgiving and the shopping frenzy known as Black Friday and December is all about winter and Christmas.

That is just the last quarter of the year people. I think it is an absolute shame for children, teens and college students to be reminded so quickly that school is about to be back in gear soon after it just ended. I would argue it’s a bit different for college students, whose year concludes in May unless you choose to take summer classes, which some do.

However, once you get back into the workforce with school out, you see such reminders because let’s be honest most college coeds are working in the retail industry. Of course, I know I’m going to hear everyone make the argument that most students had most of last year off because of the chaos with the 2020/2021 Coronavirus pandemic, but I would make the argument from fall 2020 until June 2021 most students were in school or home schooled and had a full year of schooling and education for the most part with some hiccups along the way.

What I’m getting at is the fact that we are programmed as Americans. We have these cycles that we are expected to follow and get into the groove of as soon as things transpire without questioning what is transpiring. Yeah, this is an important time for many retailers who rely heavily on back to school sales to boost revenue. This is notably important for office supply stores like Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Target, Meijer, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond and so many others.

Hell, a vast majority of income for office supply companies is earned from late July thru early September and the earlier the push the better for them to get the products out to the public. That said, I think we already know that when the month of August comes we are nearing the return of school and all the chaos that comes with that. The retailers don’t have to shove that reminder down our throats like we don’t know its right around the corner.

Let’s give the kiddos a break, and lets’ really give the parents a break because that is the absolute last thing we have to be reminded of because some people have no idea of the stress that comes with getting all those supplies when we send our kids back to school.

Written By Zoe Mitchell