Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy Christmas. It is always a fun time to meet friends and family, and indulge yourself more than you normally would – or indeed should. However, nothing is perfect, and here is a collection of personal irritations about the time to be jolly – or not, as the case may be.
Christmas adverts
I really can’t stand being blasted with every consumer project ever made. I’m glad I don’t own a TV sometimes, because every time I return home I remember how much of the day is wasted listening to considerably unsubtle attempts to sell things left, right and centre. Normally everyone is hopelessly confused about what to get even their nearest and dearest anyway, and most of the stuff I seem to get the pleasure of being exposed to is either a £50 robot that can possibly recite the alphabet backwards for the adventuring child, or a £200 camera I could not hope to afford anyway. They simply aren’t relevant, and are tiresome once you’ve sat through three in a row.
Wrapping paper
Is it just me who sees the futility of this? It might look pretty and sparkly, but no normal, hyperactive young relative is going to care that you’ve spent time to tidy up all the corners or picked wrapping paper with complementary colours. Even among the more mature it’s a means to an end, with the remnants forgotten about and thrown in the bin anyway. For such a short life, it’s not exactly the cheapest item going either, once again adding to its uselessness.
The X Factor
By now, the programme has more than outstayed its welcome by late December, and yet somehow this pop abomination – which lets the newest ‘star’ try and record a number one single and is so manufactured that the Soviets would have been proud of it – still has the backing of the people. It’s often a waste of a perfectly good number one, because it’s likely they’ll disappear as quickly as the Quality Street does during the festive period and we’ll all be going “Who?” come the new year. But at least it provides a few laughs to those who are prepared to watch it in a more sarcastic manner.
Christmas crackers
They start off as great fun; I sure love beating my siblings and family members and proving my ‘strength’. But then you look inside them, and you realise – and probably remember – that it’s the weirdest collection of paraphernalia you’ve ever seen. Yes, if you’re quite fancy you will be getting a collection of quite useful mini-screwdrivers, until you quickly appreciate this is the third set you’ve got in successive years. Almost everything else is instantly unremarkable, and if you do find a gem that may actually be useful in day-to-day life, you can count yourself as one of a lucky few.
There are four pet hates for you to moan, argue, complain and generally have a rant about. But do not forget to actually enjoy the many more positives of Christmas, too!
