Christmas is coming ...

As I approach the time when I will really be a ‘Grumpy Old Man’ (my 65th birthday is now less than two months away), I find myself feeling more and more out of step with the world in which I live.

When I was a child, I remember an old nursery rhyme that we used to sing at school during the last weeks of the autumn term. It marked that fact that Christmas was almost upon us … and we could begin to prepare for it. The words were as follows:

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please do put a penny in the old man's hat
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

Earlier this week Sue and I spent several hours at our local shopping mall, and I was struck by several thoughts as we tried to do our shopping:

• People seem to be spending money like it was water. (‘Recession; what recession?’ was the general impression I was left with.)
• People are buying huge amounts of food, far more than most families will need to tide them over the two-day holiday … especially as most of the shops are going to be open on the day after Christmas Day!
• This buying ‘frenzy’ began back in October, and seemed to reach a maniacal peak when we hit the latest import from the US, ‘Black Friday’. (The near riots in some shops were worse than any previous ‘shopping rage’ that I have ever seen.) Things have calmed down slightly since then, but the tempo is gradually racking up again.
• There were children everywhere … and it is not yet the school holidays! (Either school attendance in the local area is hitting a low spot or parents are disregarding the possible fines they will face for not sending the children to school. Either way, the children are out shopping with their parents … and generally supervising the purchase of the high-end goods they expect to receive as ‘presents’ for Christmas.)
• The approach of Christmas seems to make people so bad tempered. I have seem so many arguments, and everyone seems to walk around with a grim look of determination of their face that conveys the message that they are going to get what they want, when they want it, and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.

Sue and I discussed our childhood memories of Christmas, and we both agreed that the preparations generally did not start until the beginning of December, and were usually marked by the arrival of Santa Claus/Uncle Holly/Father Christmas in the local department store. (The name varied between stores, but the arrival was usually accompanied by a short parade through the town centre and Christmas displays in the department store’s windows.) Most shops did not begin stocking Christmas items before this, and many did not do so until the last fortnight before the holiday. Neither of us could remember being taken to choose our Christmas presents nor having time off school to go shopping with our parents. The whole thing seemed to be much gentler, less fraught, less pressured, and much more fun.

Perhaps we should introduce a ‘new’ version of that old nursery rhyme:

Christmas is coming, the tills are ringing out
Spend all your money, or you’ll get left out
If you haven't got some money, what will you do?
If you haven't got some money, then God help you!

(I know that it does not quite scan or rhyme properly … but I hope that you get the general idea.)