By: Shannon Price ~Guest Writer~

It is the age-old (or perhaps just as old as Hallmark) question: when is it time to take down the holiday decorations? Is it when the carolers stop coming? Is it when flowers begin to sprout and your neighbors cease pretending they aren’t judging you?

Here’s your answer: the lights can stay. But those inflatables? They have got to go by the New Year.

Lights can be classy. They don’t even have to be Christmas specific. If you need proof of that, follow an RA on room inspections. They’re taking down those beautiful little fire hazards all year long.

Inflatables? They’re cute, but they’re kind of like that snowman that you drunkenly built on the quad last year. He looked great on the first day, all right on the second day, but then he started to melt, turned gray and got who-knows- what stuck in his belly. Frosty became a heart-wrenching reminder of snow-days-lost, clinging to the last shreds of his dignity, just like the kid that slept straight through his first class this week.

Inflatable Santa was jolly in December, but he needs to take a well-deserved nap until next December.