Bearing Up

We have exchanged the pre-Christmas madness for the post-Christmas version. Shops are discounting all those perfect presents that we bought at full price only a week or two ago. Why do we do it? Why can't we call their bluff and hang on? We could give our friends and loved ones IOUs on the 25th or, better still, move our own Christmas celebrations to some random date, in February, for instance. Then we wouldn't need to get involved in the Christmas rush at all and we could buy everything in the January sales (which started in Laura Ashley around mid-December).

Hang on. That’s not a good idea, I didn't think it through; physically shopping in the sales (no doubt referred to as a 'person present transaction' in modern jargon) is akin to listening to Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley - why would we want to do it? No, a better bet would be to visit the sales on-line. Then we can have the pleasure of waiting in all day later in the month for a carrier to turn up - or not (a recurrent theme).

Still, all in all, it's not a bad time of the year. We get to spend quality time (what an abysmal phrase!) with friends and family, we can eat foods that society declares off-limits throughout the rest of the year, like Christmas pudding, and we get the pleasure of giving and receiving. On balance, I think we bear up fairly well in the circumstances (new entry in the 'tenuous link to picture' category).