Over my lifetime I've lived in a few different countries and experienced different cultures. One of the common threads wherever I have lived, whenever and however it is celebrated, is the 'excitement' of Christmas. However, since moving back to the UK, I've noticed that on the island of my birth Christmas is nothing more than a stress. So much so that last year I spent Christmas on my own. And before you say 'bah humbug!' I have to say I had a really nice, relaxing few days off work, although I did have to fight for my right to celebrate Christmas how I choose to (so much for the season of goodwill!).
Here in the UK, the Christmas celebration lasts for a month. Basically, from the 1st December the whole island builds itself up for the biggest come down on 26th December. Today I visited Tesco to do a bit of last minute shopping before I drive to visit family in England. Although I have been doing my best to shop at local markets recently, in all honesty I went to Tesco because I had some vouchers to use up and I needed to fill my car up with petrol. After today's visit, however, I really don't want to go back there again. There's still two days to go until actual Christmas, but the supermarket was like some post-modernist film's prediction on utopian hell. Without wanting to cause offence to anyone, as I include myself amongst them, the whole shop was full of people who would genuinely starve if Tesco and other supermarkets like it didn't exist. Because they honestly have no idea where food comes from.
No comments:
Post a Comment