Shops have been de-Christmassed

[CharityShopChic]

And it's WONDERFUL. They must have had the elves in over the last couple of days because in both the Asda and Waitrose I was in this morning had no decorations, no festive aisles full of tat, no screeching Noddy Holder on the tannoy.

Fabulous. At last back to normal.

It isn’t the actual way if you don’t believe in the religious connotations.

What @VestaTilley said isn’t her way…it is the actual way. She didn’t just make it up to be a twat. You don’t have to go along with it, it’s not compulsory.

It's the actual Christian way. No doubt the Pagans - the European spiritual tradition from whom the Middle Eastern one appropriated nearly all the key components of Yuletide including the twelve-day celebration commencing at the solstice - have a greater claim to saying 'our way is the right way' were they so inclined. But in general, they're not. They tend to leave that kind of noise to the later, more aggressively patriarchal monotheistic faith that persecuted and immolated them for generations.

The idea that retailers should refrain from taking down their red and green banners, silence poor Noddy and clear the shelves of the hideous fruit concoctions that dominate their shelves from October in case they offend a Christian is hilarious. They are there to return profits in a competitive, capitalist market: a separate world entirely from the business of religious observance.

I'm sure the local church still has a nativity scene on show if people are that desperate for a continued public devotional display. Most of the rest of the country have lives, jobs and careers to return to.

Fortunately in the UK those who choose to celebrate Christmas as christians can do so and those who do their own thing can also do so.

Fighting over dogma has given religions a bad rep.

Many still celebrate into Hogmanay and New Year. Still days of celebrating left yet 😂

Usually shops did open on Boxing Day then. It was a massive sale day.

@MarieIVanArkleStinks
Thank you for confirming that Christmas tat should indeed remain in place for the 12 days of Christmas

'Should' is one of the most futile words in the English language. Second only to 'if'.

Yes, as a child in the 80s I remember going to a Carol service at the local church AFTER Christmas on something like the 28th. Would seem bizarre now.

@CharityShopChic

Lots of people have zero interest in 12th night. An irrelevant date on the calendar. Yes it might be "tradition" to keep decorations up to 6th Jan but times change and the vast majority of people in this country are not practising christians. Christmas is now a secular festival which begins far too early, peaks through the first three weeks in December, and culminates on 25th.

I don't think this is the case generally...

Firstly, most religious people (and I've known many having been one myself for many years) aren't fussed with the whole 12th night thing at all. It does have its place in the traditional Christian calendar but in the same way that Christmas appropriated the midwinter festival, the 12 days were simply an extension of that, and reflected how Christmas was celebrated in previous ages

Secondly, for most people, Christmas doesn't peak in mid-December and culminate on Christmas Day. Rather, it peaks on Christmas Day, and then drifts into a different, far more leisurely phase over the following week (when many people take annual leave to be with and see family) with a last hurrah, and culmination, at New Year - a faded echo of a Christmas that preceded it a week earlier. Yes, some people keep decorations up until the 5th in a reluctance to let go of the season that has passed, but by the 2nd (in England at least) it's over.

I worked for a large electrical retailers for 11 years and we knew in August what was going to be on offer in December as the stock levels would start to increase on certain lines, Christmas tree went up in October, came down on Christmas Eve. We never stayed late putting the sale in we'd do it through the day on Christmas Eve and just discount anything we'd repriced, TBF the sale stuff was usually big tvs or white goods with the decent discounts so it wasn't really a problem on Christmas Eve.

I loved working returns on Boxing Day. I've personally ruined many young children's Christmas Day's because their parents were incapable of reading an instruction book and realising there's another on/off switch on the back of a PS2 or PS3 😂

We also had the celebratory stamping on of the Christmas Tape for the music when we'd closed. 17 years later I still know all the words to every single Christmas song 🤣

@PieonaBarm

I loved working returns on Boxing Day. I've personally ruined many young children's Christmas Day's because their parents were incapable of reading an instruction book and realising there's another on/off switch on the back of a PS2 or PS3 😂

?? Don't understand what you're saying
here. How have you ruined young children's Christmas Days? And if so, why so 😂 about it?

Sainsburys today had bloody auld lang syne playing.

I was in Sainsbury’s at around 3pm Christmas Eve and they were taking them down then, no doubt the crème eggs will be in when I make it back to the shops.

@Tuilpmouse I didn't personally but got accused of it many, many times 🤣.

The older PlayStations had two on/off switches, one of which was on the back. If you didn't switch it on then the unit wouldn't function with just the front switch, a bit like a standby function on a TV I suppose. People don't read instruction books, would set it up for little Jonny on Christmas Day and not realise that there was a rear switch that needed to be on so assumed the PlayStation was faulty when it didn't power up with just the front switch, which is all explained in the instructions.

Would then storm in the shop on Boxing Day like ol Stormin Normin on crack, slam the item down and promptly shout "you've ruined Christmas" at whoever had the misfortune to serve them, whilst little Jonny would sob next to them. I used to enjoy the subsequent product test and conversation that followed as in ten years I probably came across two units that were genuinely faulty - and then we'd usually throw a heavily discounted game in as compo.

Obviously not everyone did this, most people were polite and could be dealt with easily and courteously, but working in retail at Christmas is horrendous. Someone once asked me did I know who he was. I didn't, but my reply was "why have you forgotten?" I'm surprised I never got sacked from that job 🤣

@PieonaBarm

Fair enough, that makes sense.

Christmas is over. I would find it odd seeing Christmas stuff in shops after Christmas.

Lots of people are back at work today. I'd say Christmas is over for them.

I'm off to the garden centre today to try and find decorations in the sale for next year. I'll be surprised and disappointed if the displays and their own decorations are down.

Then into town where the street lights will definitely still be up. As it is is still Christmas.

It's the subtle as a sledgehammer signalling and blatant attempts to manipulate my shopping habits in such a cold manner that annoys me, with the frantic haste to move us on to the next thing....a bit like an over-eager waiter who snatches your plate the moment you put the last bit of food in your mouth. It's pushy and damages any connection I may have with the shop.

I get they need to move on, and retail will always need to herald the next 'season' before most of us are ready, but the speed and ruthlessness of the change is jarring and makes me recoil, rather than entice me into making my Easter egg purchases on Boxing Day.

It feels like they're just using me... on one level, of course they're using me - they're businesses who's primary motive is to make money - but their blatant "hurry up, move along, it's all about Valentines/Mothers Day/Easter now stupid" marketing is off-putting and counterproductive.

I'd much more likely engage with a shop that was in sync with people's actual occasion calendars, and kept Christmas trees up after Christmas Day (albeit with toned down Christmas music!) rather than the frenetic and mercenary 'retail' calendar which tries to reduce us to purchasing automatons.

I realised at 4pm on Christmas Eve we had no Christmas crackers so headed to the shops... Most were taking down their Christmas decorations and Home Bargains had a row of Easter stuff. I honestly nearly cried! I don't know why but it made me feel incredibly sad.

Home Bargains, Christmas Eve 🤬

I'm in NI and our shops are still decked out in decorations and Xmas music still playing. That's right up til at least NYD.

Xmas definitely isn't over until New Year. Here it's pre Xmas up until the 24th, then Xmas week until the first.

It could be because we're in Ireland the religious element is still part of that.

It's not "over" for most. Christmas has 3 phases... that are analogous to good sex

1. The pre-Christmas build up through December. This is equivalent to the foreplay...

2. The event itself, focussing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This is equivalent to the orgasm...

3. The wind down from Christmas Day afternoon into Boxing Day and stretching out for many to New Year. This is equivalent to the post-coital cuddle.

"Retail" Christmas is the equivalent of your partner asking you whether the gas bill's been paid before he's pulled out or even orgasmed, followed by him leaping immediately out of bed to start vacuuming the bedroom.

I'm sure all the people who are back at work today still feel like they are having a post-coital cuddle. 🙄

Just because some on here can still lounge about eating chocolate doesn't mean everyone can.

I often work these few days, I'm not this year.
It does still feel Christmassy, lots of chocolates and treats around, people generally in a good mood. Quite relaxed because lots of people are off so less emails, meetings etc.
You can tell I'm in an office job, retail etc would be different of course.