3 Monday, December 7,1998
Got issues? Fetch advice from Jack and Jill.
Do you have a question for "Jack and Jill"? Drop it off in the "Jack and Jill" mailbox on the
door of the Cap Times office at room W 341, in the Cap Times mailbox in the Student Activi
ties office, or e-mail your question to us at captimes@psu.edu anytime. The staff of the
Cap Times, anyone associated with Penn State or anyone in the entire universe is not re
sponsible for these answers.
Q: Dear Jack and Jill:
I met a really cool girl at a party last
week. We hit it off and I feel like she is
the girl of my dreams. The next day I was
talking to one of my best friends. He
pointed out this girl walking down the
hall. He continued to tell me how hot this
girl was and how much he liked her. He
wanted to hook up with this girl really
bad. The problem is she's the same one I
met the previous night. I don't want to
tell him about it because he is really sen
sitive about these issues. What should I
do, I don't want to betray my friend, but
1 also don't want to stop talking to this
girl.
In search of advise,
"Deeply concerned male"
Dear “Deeply concerned male”,
If this is the “girl of your dreams”, then
she will feel like you’re the “guy of her
dreams” if you really are. Just slow down.
You just met her, and first impressions aren’t
always right, but how long have you been
best friends with your friend? It doesn’t have
Who ever said Christmas doesn’t last year 'round?
Holiday sales in full swing as local mechants opt for early start
By Nicole Burkholder
For the Cap Times
Silver bells, mistletoe, and holly
hang on storefronts. Christmas mu
sic bellows from the speaker sys
tem. Santa Claus and all his entou
rage begin to pop up around the
area. Bows and gift wrap are offered
with every purchase, and Christmas
sales are promising great savings.
Think of mid-November.
Retail stores seem to raise the
curtain on the Christmas season
earlier and earlier each year. Gone
are the days of the Christmas sea
son beginning on the day after
Thanksgiving. In a capitalist frenzy,
consumers rush to complete Christ
mas preparation just a little earlier
than last year. Malls and stores
make this competition possible.
Bath and Body Works began sell
ing their Christmas line in mid-Sep
tember. They waited to decorate the
store until Oct. 14, before Hallow
een. Manager of the Harrisburg East
Mall store, Sherry Hess says that
the customers of Bath and Body
Works want this early celebration.
Kathy’s Hallmark, in Colonial
Commons, follows an even earlier
schedule. Manager Sandy Fowler
puts her Hallmark Christmas oma-
to be a race to “get the girl”, if it’s right for
one or none of you, time will tell; don’t ruin
any friendships over it.
Jack:
Dear 'Deeply concerned male’,
Are you a man or a mouse? You sound like
a little schoolgirl. Simplify the situation. You
can accomplish this by yanking your friend
out of his fantasy world and back into real
ity. The next time both .of you see this girl
tell him to make his move on her. If your
friend resists (which he probably will) go up
to her and plant a kiss on her lips! Before
you accuse me of being an outrageous, in
sensitive, jerk (which I am) let me explain.
This saves you the effort of having to explain
your situation to your friend. He must learn
that you can either be the player or you can
be played. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there,
baby, and the competition’s fierce. Do what
you can to give yourself an edge, and this
isn’t accomplished by hooking your friend
up before you’re hooked up. Besides, once
your friend realizes you’re ‘da bomb’ he’ll
strive to be like you. Remember Jack’s words
of wisdom: a true friend stabs you in the front.
ments up for sale in July by orders
from Hallmark’s main office. That
makes these ornaments available
six months during the year for a
holiday that lasts only one day. Due
to the collectible nature of these
ornaments, Hallmark stores attract
a dedicated following of buyers
who are eagerly awaiting the orna
ments’ summer arrival, says
Fowler.
Santa Claus made his grand en
trance at both Colonial Park Mall
and Harrisburg East Mall the sec
ond week in November. The East
Mall began its decorating and
preparation for the mail’s 150 ton
sand sculpture on Oct. 25. The ac
tual kickoff was scheduled to cul
minate with the arrival of Santa at
his 20 foot high sand sculpture
house on Nov. 14. The Colonial
Park Mall began the day before.
According to Tina Cuthie, mar
keting manager for the Harrisburg
East Mall, Christmas decorations
and the arrival of Santa Claus are a
kickoff for Black Friday, the big
gest retail day of the year, not just
for Christmas itself. Black Friday
is the day when people really start
their Christmas shopping so this
early preparation helps get them in
the mood.
FEATURES
Hess of Bath and Body Works
also says that preparation for Black
Friday takes a lot of work. Starting
early allows the company and em
ployees a chance to prepare during
downtime, rather than in the midst
of the store’s peak season.
Cuthie also said that the Christ
mas frenzy really has not started
any earlier than usual. For the past
four years, the arrival of Santa
Claus has always been in the sec
ond week in November. With the
weather being so mild this year,
people may think that the season
has started earlier than it really has,
remarked Cuthie.
The question is whether or not
Cow adds natural touch to carol
By Holly Ramer
Of The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. There is a
new voice among the flock of
French hens, turtle doves and par
tridges in this version of the Twelve
Days of Christmas.
Kerry is no ordinary songbird,
however. She’s a song cow.
When violinist Steve Schuch
wanted to include the song on an
JILL
people are buying into the excite
ment. Hess says that the Bath and
Body Works Christmas line began
selling as soon as it hit the shelves
in mid-September because “cus
tomers are afraid the items won’t
be there later.” Of course, Hess did
add that sales really pick up after
Halloween, and even more after
Thanksgiving.
Cuthie noted that “sales have
been phenomenal. Weekend [Nov.
13-15] sales and traffic really
showed that people are buying.”
In addition to retail, high schools
and churches have been hosting
holiday craft shows as fund raisers.
Again, Christmas music fills the air
as people buy wooden Santas to
display on their front door. Home
album of Celtic music, he chose
Kerry the cow over her feathered
friends. She can be heard adding a
“moo” or two during the “eight
maids a-milking” verse.
“The thought I had when I was
first asked to make this album was
that people have been making
Christmas albums forever, and a lot
of them start to sound the same,”
Schuch said. “I thought, what can
we do with every one of these
The Capital Times
owners have already begun hang
ing Christmas lights around their
houses, and Christmas trees have
begun to appear in windows.
Lower Paxton resident Elizabeth
Bashore says she enjoys “preparing
for Christmas so early. It is such a
great time of the year and starting
so early allows it to last just a little
longer.”
And so the season has begun. Big
sales and holiday music grace ev
ery inch of the area. People are en
joying the season as the big day gets
nearer.
Bashore comments, “I am already
done shopping for this year, and I
am already planning for next year.
You can never start too early with
Christmas!”
pieces to do something different?”
Schuch, along with his group, The
Night Heron Consort, soon realized
that making the Twelve Days of
Christmas interesting without
words would be a challenge.
“I thought, why not try an ono
matopoeic version, and hey, why
not try to get real turtle doves and a
real cow?” Schuch said. “... at the
time, the president of the record
company thought I lost my mind.”