The ‘joys’ of Christmas sales

I have to admit, when it comes to Christmas, I am a bit of an old Scrooge. I dislike the festivities – the decoration, the tree, fairy lights, not to forget the disgusting mince pies! Then I switch my television on and I just cannot escape the Christmas spirit: dozens of festive films circulating the channels, and even the world of Soaps create hype for the best storyline of the year.

However, I have a somewhat different opinion on the Christmas sales. They are something I eagerly anticipate long before Boxing Day. But of course I am not the only one. The high street shops and huge department stores build our excitement; like John Lewis using a cute little child to warm the hearts of us usual stingy Brits. Then there are huge posters with “70% off” and “final few bits” plastered over shop windows, attracting our wallets, luring us into buying items that we are probably not going to wear; or at the least, wear once. As naive as ever, we totally miss the small asterisk telling us that such enormous discounts are on ‘selected items only’, which are basically not to anybody’s taste.

But not to worry; if however, you are short on furniture, you can always make a visit to DFS and enjoy their never-ending sale – as soon as the ‘final 8 days’ are over, another begin. It is never a rush to grab their bits, because their sale is essentially annual.

As we push our way into shops, it is like rambling through a jungle. We see the true colours of people as they behave like animals, fighting for the last pair of size 8 jeans. We grit our teeth as scheming mothers use their buggies to jump long queues – but we’ll forgive them because ‘it’s Christmas’. I doubt they have that same joyous spirit, as they get frustrated with their young children and break out into a sweat, due to lugging around bags of shopping.

The annoying thing about all of this is that it happens every year! No matter which shopping centre you try this time, chances are, several others have decided to go somewhere different too. Consequently, I decided to give the high streets a miss, and did my shopping from the comfort of my home: online. This gave me the opportunity to take advantage of the sales before Boxing Day. So while many were stuffing their turkey on Christmas Day, I was browsing the internet, searching for bargains and spending the remainder of my student loan on yet more clothes. I suppose the greatest drawback of internet shopping is the delivery, for which I spent £12 on from various shops. I’ll embark on my returns when the sales die down.

But no matter how awful the Christmas sale shopping experience can be; it is the much dominated aspect of Christmas. Perhaps this years’ John Lewis advert will surpass the last and worm me into shopping all over again.