Columnist Susan Snyder: Oh, carol: The spirit overwhelms

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 8:30 a.m.

The young woman behind the coffee-shop cash register rolled her eyes when I inquired about the Christmas carols playing from the speakers overhead.

Last Wednesday.

"How long will it be before all your coworkers want to strangle each other?" I asked.

"We've been playing them for two weeks already," she said, almost whispering. "January 2nd, and that's it."

Not sure whether that's the day the music stops or the day on which her coworkers should call in sick. But we can understand her pain.

It's not Thanksgiving yet, and I'm not looking for a "unique holiday selection" of anything unless it is big bags of money.

Money that will send me some place where they don't talk about Christmas until the leftover turkey is eaten.

It would have to be Mars.

Most of our pilgrim poultry remains frozen, and yet the Christmas trees are already arriving on lots around the valley.

If I bought a tree today, by Dec. 15 it would look like rest of the plants in my life.

Brown.

But Tom Bono and Jimmy Greene said more than a handful of people will be putting up their trees this week. The men were up bright and early Monday setting up trees on the lot at Desert Inn Road and Rainbow Boulevard, where they sell them every year.

It's one of eight such lots around the valley run annually by Best Trees, Greene said.

And just how soon do they expect to see customers?

"Today," Bono said. "We've got high-quality trees, and it's going to cost a couple extra dollars for those. People want to get their money out of it."

A worker affixed stands to the bottom of the first load of noble firs from Oregon that were piled under a tarp in a big tent in center of the lot.

A couple of other guys walked into the chain-link enclosure looking for work. Bono said they often hire walk-ons. There's never a shortage of people needing work.

He recalled a homeless guy they hired a few years ago who ended up showering regularly at Bono's place, worked hard and eventually landed a full-time job at a Bally's shop from someone he met through working on the tree lot.

Seems he was "a real hard worker" who needed an employer willing to take a chance.

In true Las Vegas style, Bono and Greene rub elbows with those at the top as well as the bottom of the economic heap. They deliver huge trees to area celebrities and the Strip's megaresorts, including the Four Seasons.

"We've had (professional) boxers and football players. We've brought them up to penthouses," Bono said.

Bono and Greene live in Las Vegas but figure they'll spend most of November in a recreational vehicle parked on the lot. It's a seven-day job -- sort of like being elves without the funny shoes.

"It's a long month for us," Greene said.

It's going to be a long month for all of us. Two radio stations switched to all-Christmas programming over the weekend.

Ah well. At least the pine trees smell good.