Decorations
Posted: Sat 26 November, 2005 Filed under: Festering Season, Thoughts 3 Comments »
Have you noticed this year that the retail version of the Festering Season seems to have started off a lot later than usual?
I don’t know why it is, or whether it’s just round here, but up until this week I hadn’t seen any sign of christmas lights/ decorations on the streets. They’ve gone up in the last few days, but I don’t object to that too much – after all, one month today and it’s all over anyway. Last year they were up by Nov 1st – so we’re definitely improving.
I did see somewhere a story about how retailers had (finally) realised that a three month Christmas run-up was counter-productive, and actually made people not want to spend money on Christmas at all – but I can’t remember where I saw it. Sometimes I’m useless.
Anyway, isn’t it nice, not being deluged already by Festive Tat?
You’re lucky. I spent the beginning of this month panicking because all my acquaintances said that they’d finished their Christmas shopping. I’d bought a few bits in the sales but nothing major. Plus, this year is the first year I have to do all the cooking Christmas Day and I hadn’t even started planning what I needed for that…
… then I thought, hang on … it’s ONLY THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER!! Hate the fact that Christmas stress gets earlier and earlier – early decorations I can deal with.
The following statement is going to seem arrogant. I know it is, but please humour me.
I see myself as inadvertently being amongst the trendsetters. I perceive that there is a significant minority of people who are rejecting the endless clueless trawl round the shops in favour of internet shopping, going to the sun at Xmas, cutting out the crappy tat. In numbers they may not be many, but they are the quite significant in having substantial but finite disposable income – the Bs and C1s, if you like.
Fuck ’em, if shops have Christmas carols on in November, don’t go in…………….oh and don’t vote for the fuckers who won’t do owt about the extension to the Christmas season. If President Blair actually passed a law saying that you could not start selling festive tat ’til the start of advent (note link to Christian origins) it would be the first sensible thing he has ever put before parliament!