christmas shopping

I hate Christmas – particularly having to shop. When I explained this to a friend, he accused me of being a Scrooge. I explained that I REALLY don’t shop. I buy books, CDs, food, necessary kit (especially Apple computers *grin*) – and that’s about it. I DON’T shop!! Really! If all the people out there shopped as I do, the whole edifice of the consumer society would come crashing down… A consequence of this is that I simply don’t even know where the shops are – or what they have to sell.

So, you see, I HATE going into shops for myself – never mind going in to buy stuff for other people – stuff I don’t know if they want – stuff that I am feeling compelled to buy only because it is required of me by a ritual that I do not feel belongs to me at all.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about money. I would be delighted to invite the world and his cat and dog to sit around a bonfire and eat food I had cooked, supplying copious quantities of alcohol of any kind – and to celebrate what I feel I want to celebrate at this time of year – the winter solstice.

but I DO NOTTTTT SHOPPPPP!!!!

PS. bah, humbug!

Posted by Ricardo

writer and blogger

11 Replies to “christmas shopping”

  1. Xmas is not for ‘Gifts’ It’s for families joint together and display their love ‘at least’ once in a ‘Blue Moon’

    Reply

  2. It is good to hear that there are more people who doesn’t like this frenzy of shopping at this time of the year. Just now, only my Great Grand Children are the only ones with a gift. Why this frenzy when Christmas is about Christ. It is His brthday – not ours! That is how I see it. I hate shopping!.

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  3. I don’t think of Christmas as a time to shop, so much as it is an occasion for me to give things that I had wanted to give to people. Usually I pick up things throughout the year when I see something that I think a particular person would like. I love Christmas as a time to send masses of cards (usually individually picked/made by the way) out to people to wish them the best and thank them for what they’ve done for me. That, I count as a present. ^^ Hence, I enjoy it.

    I never liked getting gifts that I didn’t want, so I don’t usually buy big gifts anymore either.

    Oh I totally agree about shopping though. The irony of my living in Hong Kong now is that I am in a city who’s “national” past time is shopping. How I sorely fail at that. Sometimes it’s nice to go into shops – not to shop, but just to see what interesting things there are in those places.

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    1. well, giving is a delight as long as what you’re giving is something that you really imagine the recipient wants. I’m not generally convinced that these days I’m doing that… I’ve always wanted to be buy things all through the year – but I’ve never been that organized. What I do instead is to give things to people whenever I come across something that I am sure they will enjoy. As for cards, years back I managed to burn myself out on that front. I got into making 4-5 colour lino prints. I would produce around 200 of these cards by hand. Most people assumed they were bought cards and chucked them. I calculated I was spending 2% of my whole life making them – and stopped doing it. I’ve not sent a card of any kind since then…

      Didn’t know you were in Hong Kong. I spent a month there some years back and have relatives in Macao. In fact, my mother’s family come from Macao. I have a little Chinese blood… Hong Kong blew me away – in 1992 it felt like it was already well into the 21st century…

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  4. I understand you. Christmas nowadays it’s all about avid consuming. I wish I could stay away from all the turmoil but, unfortunately, I work in a mall. It’s sad, especially in this time of the year, to see people turn into real animals just so they can get what they want. In the stores it’s not rare to see people arguing, even fighting, over something pointless, like an item they happen to want at the same time or who was the first in the cashier’s line. I’m glad to know that you refuse to be part of this horde.

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    1. yes, working in a mall at this time of year it must be impossible to ignore the frantic madness… 🙁

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  5. Nice painting in the background, btw! ;-]

    (By the way, your photo suggest to me that you should offer smileys through your site based on your face!)

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  6. Oh, you SCROOGE, with your “Christmas! Bah! Humbug!”ging…

    And since you doth protest too much, you’ll GET something for Christmas! :-p

    Reply

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