Ghost of Xmas (Christmas and Commercialisation)

Member Name: paulc20001

Product:	Christmas and Commercialisation
Date:	02/01/02 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun, time to relax, time with family

Disadvantages: expensive, over too quick, lot of hassle

Was it all worth it?

Snow, presents, children getting excited, lots of eating drinking (and consequently throwing up), office parties, pantomime and last minute shopping. Tree, crackers, cards, wrapping paper, the list goes on and on.

Yes, it’s that silly season again – Christmas. But what is it all about really?

Christmas is not just a religious festival anymore, where Christians rejoice the birth of Jesus Christ, and young children perform in school nativity’s, just so many a parent can take their camcorder along to get those few moments of his/her child’s fame on tape, to play back in years to come just for sheer embarrassment. I like to refer to it as the silly season.

Or should it be referred to as the “make lots of money and go mad season”?

Every year it is the same. No I’m not being cynical, and I’ll never be a religious fanatic. Those of you who have read any of my ops know that I say what I feel to be true, rightly or wrongly. What I am about to write is not so much an opinion, maybe more of an acute observation of people generally at this time of year. And I don’t count myself exempt from any of this madness. Maybe that’s why I’m writing this.

Christmas is no longer a “special” time of year, as all those adverts would have us believe. Each year we know that December is only 12 months away. Each year millions of us run around like blue-arsed flies trying to pick up those last minute tights for granny, or a card for some relative in New Zealand who you never speak to 11 months of the year, then hope that the card arrives in time (whilst posting it on Christmas Eve!). Buying a turkey the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, then vowing in January never to eat turkey again! The retailers absolutely love it. It’s a license to print money effectively. Late night shopping for a few weeks, with some high street retailers even having th
e audacity to open on Christmas Day/Boxing Day for “ a few dollars more”. A recent survey in the news stated that the average consumer will spend between £500 - £1000 over the Christmas period. Thank you very much says the retailers. Thank you very much says the banks/credit card companies. It’s all about the money.

So what else do we have at this wonderful time of year? After all the running around last minute shopping on Christmas Eve, now what? It’s the holiday entertainment folks! Two weeks of pure crap on television. Occasionally, BBC/ITV will put something decent to watch, but this is rare. Same old drivel each year – Sound of Music, Wizard Of Oz, etc etc …… It’s the time of year where channel providers make money from throwing out countless repeats knowing full well most people will be at home unable to move due to over-eating and alcohol consumption. The other alternatives? Buy a satellite dish or some other similar medium (more money). Or go and see a pantomime, featuring acting has-beens in need of some extra cash – again more money.

In between all of this over-indulgence, spending money we haven’t got (then pleading with the bank manager in January for more time to repay to overdraft!) we have the standard office parties. I freely admit these can be quite fun most of the time. Nothing like finding your best mate snogging the boss only to find she fires him the next day! That’s NOT going to get you promoted! Then there is the obligatory office rumours flying around for weeks on end afterwards. Much fun can be had from this, provided it’s not you on the end of accusations. And don’t forget the pre-determined hangover for those of you who drink!

So what does it all mean?

In a nutshell, Christmas has become a much over-commercialised, money-making scam for the retailers, and a licence for the general public to do things that for 11 months a ye
ar they would not even dream of. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas a hell of a lot like most people do. I enjoy the drinking, eating, partying, even trying snog one of the office girls I’ve had my eye on all year (told you it was silly season!), just like the rest of us. I think that somewhere along the way the enjoyment factor has been lost in it all. Is over-indulgence fun? Is all the rushing around fun? Children love it of course, and so they should, for they one day will become adults, running around on Christmas Eve for last minute presents. I have lots of friends with children and the look on their face on Christmas Day is a joy to watch. It does make the whole thing worth while. Maybe we are all just big kids underneath, hence the indulgence over the festive period. It’s the commercialisation of it all that ruins it. Shops entice us, make us spend money willy-nilly. It’s like one great big marketing ploy, engineered to make money.money, money. What a shame. But we’re only human, aren’t we?
Let’s enjoy it for what it really is. A time for spending with friends and family, letting our hair down for a few days and unwinding. Christmas is for everyone, not just children or those of you with a religious slant. Is this op an opinion of an idealist? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Here’s to a prosperous 2002

Paul

(*** my apologies for the lateness in submitting this review ….. I’ve been kind of busy!***)

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