Christmas
in Britain
In a country that is becoming ever more
secular the traditional British obsession with Christmas becomes more and more
difficult to understand. Along with the commercial fest it provides more and
more justification for a celebration in the midst of the dismal world that
beckons outside with its wintry weather.
Christmas is signaled by a spate of office
parties and most firms will often have a Christmas party for their employees.
This usually brings the refrain that more is needed in January but of course by
this time other forces are at work and it is forgotten. Drunken and disgraceful
behavior is usually laughed off which is quite fortunate for the many who do
over indulge.
At the same time commercialism is rampant
with the average person not really being able to describe the reason for the
celebration in an increasingly secular country. In fact it often appears more
like a folk festival.
At the beginning of December Christmas lights
go up in all the main centres. Most towns have them ad many individuals plan their
own lights as well. Often you will see displays that are privately made on the
theme of merry Christmas.
However there is a down side as well as the
whole country effectively shuts down for this period and in many places you
will get the refrain, ”Oh we will sort it out in the new year” In many cases Christmas presents are being
bought in August and there is little doubt that the running will be made for a
Christmas season soon after the commercial fests of Halloween and Guy Fawkes
night are over.
Christmas is very much a family time and
often there are times when for those without close family it can be very lonely.
A surge of charities try to help but their resources are limited. There was one
initiative called Crisis at Christmas which tried to bring homeless people in
over the Christmas period. That included mainly people who were sleeping rough.
It begs the question however of what happens to these people the rest of the
time.
Another concomitant is that many family
fight start around this time. The family get together often turns sour and the
fights continue into the new year and beyond.
In London itself the entire public transport
system shuts down so all there is is some taxis charging ruinous prices for the
business. The moral of the story is of course that you have to be where you aim
to be the day before. After the great fest the world wakes up to the fact that
new year is dawning. After the initial heady element of New Year ’s Eve the country
generally settles into a mood of depression. Most people are broke financially
having maxed out on the credit cards to pay for the Christmas splurge. Even the
lengthening days bring little cheer and or many people January and February are
the most depressing months of the ear. Spirits only seem to lift a bit in March
with the arrival of the spring.
