Christmas
Advent
At the beginning of December London is preparing for
Christmas. At the moment the talk is of seasonal cheer. Everybody is exhorted
to show some kindness though quite why this is only necessary at Christmas is a
moot point. The run up to this shows the placing of Christmas lights which are
placed in many of the streets. Many homes as well will compete to offer these
lights in more and more extravagant forms. In most workplaces a large Christmas
party is planned. This can be the only get together in the workplace for a
whole year and the spirit of this is togetherness and good cheer. The shops
will be encouraging all to shop till they drop and many shops will become
impassable with crowds filing all the supermarkets. Many people are buying
Christmas presents for their children in August and it is still fairly common
for people to save up for a whole year for the event although in many cases it
is the credit card that is taking the slack
This does not always
resonate with a country which is rapidly ceasing to be in any but a nominal
sense a Christian country. In many ways it is more reminiscent of a folk
festival with most of the religious undertones being long forgotten. Most
people are hardly aware of the significance seeing it as an excuse to have a
knees up. All will be forgotten anyway in the preparations.
The festival is billed as a commercial feast and all the
economic statisticians are poring over the data already to see of there is any
sign of recovery in spending. There will be a lot of analysis of the takings in
shops and whether or not there will be signs of recovery. One consequence of
Christmas is that subsequently there will be many sales of discounted goods in
January to get rid of the additional stock of Christmas. The figures from these
will also be exhaustively analyzed.
The day itself is seen as a festival only for family. Most of
the population will be maxing out their credit cards in preparation for the
feast. In some places there will be a competition to staff different birds
inside each other to see who can offer the most sumptuous Christmas dinner. The
feast of calories and cholesterol continues with most families opting for
turkey though a sizeable number will buy goose instead. All the trimmings will
add a fair amount to the bill of course. Festive foods such as Christmas
pudding and mince pies will be in evidence all around.
All will be exhorted to be nice to each other over Christmas.
We will all be told to set these issues aside. In the country it is generally
considered to be a scandal if anybody spends Christmas on their own. Hard
pressed families will come together to join in the enforced Christmas gaiety.
However another consequence will be that the pressures of the preparations will
lead to family fights and ruptures which can continue into the New Year and
beyond.
On the day itself very few work places will be open. All
shops and public transport will be shut and the few taxi drivers that operate
will be paid handsomely for it as they operate on vastly increased fares or
this period. A few pubs will be open at
reduced hours as people escape the various tensions produced by the enforced
togetherness. In this way the society is one where all are virtually forced to
celebrate.
After the day litter
bins will be overflowing with all the paraphernalia of seasonal indulgence, the
wrapping paper, the old Christmas crackers and the remains of overindulgence in
both food and alcohol.
