Just stop all this crap buying?

[PassingStranger]

Woman in front of me today at shop buying a load of secret santa stuff this morning. I heard her telling the assistant. She also mentioned some of it was for a lucky dip. It was all sweets and chocolate too.

Can people not make a stand now and refuse to get sucked into all this crap.

Just because of a fairytale about a virgin birth sometime in December possibly the whole countries been brainwashed for years,into thinking people have got to have presents and secret santas and lucky díps etc?

Does anyone actually need any of this stuff anyway and more chocolate?
Will the world end if we start to push back?

Its so heavily entrenched into people's minds, they feel its Just something they must do.

I look forward to the day more people start to reject these things and think for themselves?

Is this really want I want to do or am im doing it because its something I have always done?

Do people really need what i am buying?
Martin Lewis seems to be on track with it.
Its ugly.

Who's we?

How does consuming vast quantities of plastic tat purchased from Temu, Shein, et al drive the economy?

You're right OP, its bad for the struggling environment and its not great for kids to have so much shit. But you will get called a Scrooge because apparently living in a world that is full of plastic tat is more important than all the microplastics in our brains.

Don't buy tat yourself.
Silently judge away.
Don't rant publicly about people enjoying the festive season.
Don't be a misery guts.
Mind your own business.

Rules to live by.

The world is a miserable shithole. A little joy can't hurt.

Good for you.

You've seen sense, and are free of the conditioning/brainwashing.
Life will be less stressful as well.

No worries have I got the right thing?
Have I spent the right amount?
Did they spend roughly the same on me?
Will they like it?
Will it end up being on ebay for sale or regifted.
Will it be on mn under the worst thing i got for xmas thread. 🙄

Why do they need Christmas pjs?

We definitely need to suck out all of the Christmas feelz, to match the rest of the years shit.

You buy what you want... then we both have to share the same plastic-saturated, landfill-choked, ocean-poisoned planet.

I despise seasonal tat. I refuse to be called miserable and joyless about it, too. Hope for a cleaner, calmer world is my biggest joy, and the sooner the tat-buying stops, the closer we all get to it.

So what is your suggestion? Complete austerity? A lump of coal?

Seriously, I bloody hate mindless consumerism - I agree about the landfill issue and supply chain impacts. The world is an environmental dumpster fire.

BUT;

I think that the world needs a respite from being a terminal shit show from a social perspective..

Your post comes across as sad, tired. Solution less. How do we balance social and environmental priorities?

This is a genuine question.

I love Christmas and why not cheer up mid winter with gifts and feasts. I understand the plastic tat sentiment and most people have dialled that back, but buying sweets, chocolate, good quality bath products and items that can be used through the year, saving the recipients money (as they don’t need to buy their own) is lovely. I’m not ready to cancel Christmas just yet!

Yep, half a lump of coal and a shot of espresso.

Good grief.

I’ve definitely cut back after realising most of it is unnecessary. Seems alot of others have too as the Christmas aisles are still fully stocked.

Oi shsh. I am getting Secret Santa Kahlua. Win

Push back all you want I'm still buying chocolates and sweets

The world won't end if you mind your own fucking business

OP, I agree. Many people will defend the right to buy tat but the planet does not need it.

Its up to others what they buy.
If this lady wants to do it it's nothing to do with you.

I love temu and I'm not going to stop because someone else dont like it.

And God Bless us, everyone!

OP, you do what you like but scolding and superiority aren't going to go down happily with most. I've had an absolute pig of a year, almost died and if I want to give some (lovingly selected) gifts and eat turkey, then I bloody well will.

ETA year so bad it is unfair to pigs to use the comparison.

I don’t think it’s a binary choice between ‘buy loads of impersonal rubbish’ and ‘refuse to buy anything at all’. I enjoy buying carefully considered gifts which will be well received.

I’m also a Christian and I don’t really understand why it was necessary for you to insult a religious belief to get your point across. I get it seems easier culturally to make snide remarks against Christianity than it does say against Judaism or Islam, but the effect is the same.

I think I will use my secret Santa gift for a game of take a sip of your cocktail every time someone on MN writes the word "tat".

🤣🤣🤣

I get overwhelmed with things so try and discourage people from buying me physical items. I’ve asked my partner for an experience voucher.

I buy for my partner, my adult children, my young nieces and that is it. I buy wine for my team at work or chocolates for those that don’t drink. It’s tradition where I work so if I didn’t buy it they would be the only team who didn’t get a gift, which would be out of order!

I don’t do secret santas etc or anything else.

I don’t think I’m being miserable by saying please don’t buy me anything to my adult children etc. I just have so much stuff it’s overwhelming so I like us to just have nice meals and spend time together with extended family. Happy to pay for food and drink.

No judgement on people who do like lots of things to open. If you like it I think it’s lovely. So people that love a gift (like my nieces) I love to buy for. Buying for the sake of it like a secret Santa when I don’t want a present myself is not for me.

One of my sons is in the military so struggles with where to put things so I just buy him useful things. Eg boxers, food and drink items and some holiday money for our holiday in Feb.

Each to their own. I do really like Christmas. I like the atmosphere, the family get together, the food, events like ice skating. I just ask for no more gifts as I literally don’t have room.

I think the OP is objecting to the consumerism, not the Christian element but the people for whom it is just about buy buy buy

Bloody lucky dips. Always knew they would cause the collapse of civilisation.

I totally agree OP! It's grim.
I loove a pootle round B and M and my heart lights up to see all the shiny, sparkly things but that gets overshadowed by me thinking that whole line of shiny joy is going straight to landfil. Or to landfil in a year or two.
Capitalism at it's worst!
Merry Christmas 🤩

Yeah, but OP's example was just sweets and chocolate. At least they have a chance of disappearing. (If someone gives me a box of modern Roses they go straight in the bin!)

I agree about the plastic shite though.