Merry Christmas?

I'm struggling with a strange thing I witnessed today. Barry and I were at the mall and there was two men talking to each other perhaps old acquaintances that had not seen each other in some time. At the end of the conversation they parted ways and said "Merry Christmas"... my thought here is this: when is it too soon to start wishing people a Merry Christmas? I realize that Christmas is exactly a month away today, but is it now a little soon? One could argue that perhaps they wont see each other again in time to make the yearly greeting, but if that is the case then does that mean that we should be calling up people we have not seen in months and say Hey happy Easter or Happy Ramadan just in case I miss you on that day? I'm confused about the social etiquette in this situation. What do you the reader think? I'm would love to hear from you. Oh in case I don't see you Merry Christmas!