After venting on IRC to a friend of mine who happens to work for the company, she suggested I write a comment on their web site.  She promised they read them regularly.  And so I did, more out of humor than anything else.

To my surprise, I received a prompt reply, apologizing for the early onslaught of merry tunes.  I was told that some overzealous soul had switched the restaurants nationwide tunes early, and that now that they were in place the switch couldn’t be undone.  I was assured, however, that they would not make the same mistake in 2009.  The response seemed a bit fabricated, but the management vagaries of massive corporate chaindom are beyond my ken, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Now we’re fast approaching the regular start of the insanity, and I have made a personal vow to stay vigilant on that Cosi I frequent for lunch.  Whether they really will hold the music until after Thanksgiving remains to be seen, but even if not, it occurs to me that the ever-expanding breadth of the holidays is at least partially within our control.  It takes only a moment to send a note to an online feedback form – maybe if we each sent one, we could make a difference on something mundane.