I don’t go to Westfield very often. When I do, it’s mostly to buy a whole bunch of things I don’t need, with money that I don’t have, it’s the capitalist society we live in after all. On one such trip over the weekend, as I ascended the escalator in David Jones, a very peculiar sight had me doing the Marty Mcfly as I asked a random stranger exactly what month it was. Just a reminder to all the readers, it is in fact September, meaning that right at this very moment there are 112 days until Christmas. That’s still a big chunk of the year to go before we are actually meant to be ‘decking the halls’. But irregardless, there it was, a tidy little pocket of Christmas cheer set to brighten your day and empty your wallet. I’m not going to deep dive too far here into the true meaning of Christmas (that will come later in the year don’t worry), but what I am asking, is are we as a society now that materialistic that Christmas is really just another excuse to fill the seasonal gap in our wallets?
In the interest of full disclosure, my family doesn’t put up the Christmas tree until Christmas eve. I also don’t do any Christmas shopping until Christmas eve, basically Christmas kind of sneaks up on me until I’m eventually wowed and blind-sided by Christmas cheer and I love this for two reasons. One if you leave it to the last minute it only takes a minute and two, It really helps bring back the hype of Christmas. Christmas eve really means something again and I actually get to enjoy and relish in the pure excitement of the season. Sure, this means I am really really late to the (Christmas) party, but September? Really? I hadn’t even bought Dad a fathers day present yet let alone thought about decking my flipping halls with anything festive. It was still chilly outside, I still had Easter snacks hidden away, what is actually happening to the world?
I am really intrigued about the people who engage in this particular practice. The ones who fuel the fire and purchase their Christmas decorations well in advance. And not just from one of those all year round Christmas shops, I mean the people who were excited about the fact that David Jones is now sporting many a pretentious Christmas decoration probably set to match the other pretentious decorations scattered throughout the house. Are you prepping for Christmas this early? Have you done all of your Christmas shopping? Are you prepping not just for this Christmas but for Christmas 2018 too? Where is the line?
I am fairly certain that it wasn’t this early last year right? Surely not? Unless I missed the boat completely? November I get, December absolutely, why not, go for gold but September? Really? Although it does kind of prove that the bigger chain stores really are just about grabbing our hard earned cash and making sure we spend it with them. I really like to make a point of buying from independent stores over Christmas, and they are currently (and thankfully) decoration free, go figure.
So there’s my seven cents on the matter. I hope you agree with me, in saying that September is far, far too early to be thinking about Christmas. Can the big chain stores give us, and our wallets a teeny tiny break before we launch head first into the season to be jolly? I hope so.
