All I want for Christmas....

.... is to get out of your stupid shop.

I HATE Christmas shopping. And I am, of course, aware that in today's society that makes me worse than Scrouge. But really, I hate it. I hate the pressure of finding good presents for people who seem to me to have everything they could possibly want/need/really not want. I hate how crowded town is at Christmas. I hate having to chose between a whole shelf-full of bubblebath/jam/necklaces/whatevers that all look the same to me. I hate how rude other people are at Christmas time, it's like everyone suddenly becomes ultra-selfish. Probably because they too hate Christmas shopping. I hate how many 'gangs' of emos there are in Harrogate. And perhaps most of all I hate the Christmas music CDs they play in shops. No matter how 'cool' he manager may think he is, I am NOT interested in hearing a dodgy 'rock and roll' version of O Come All Ya Faithful sung by fifty 7 year old primary kids.

I mean it's not that I don't like buying people presents, admittedly I am rubbish at thinking of good presents for people, but I do like getting people gifts. I like surprising people (when I finally come up with a good idea) and I like the thought that people own things that I have given them. But I hate Christmas shopping. And that upsets me becasue it's not what Christmas shopping should be about, it should be about getting lovely things for the people you love as a way of showing them that you love them. Why then do I find it sooooo horrible? I almost had a panic attack in the queue in Woolworths today and I always breathe a big sigh of relief when I actually get out of a shop. Strange.

Anyway. I have finished it all now so I just have to wrap it all up. Yay. Another one of my FAVOURITE past-times. And unfortunately one which I don't massively agree with, as tight-fisted as it may sound, wrapping paper is all just a waste of money, time and paper to me. We must use tons of paper as a nation of Christmas. Such a waste because I bet most of it doesn't get recycled. And it's only actually on the presents for a few days at most. It would be better just to blindfold the person you're giving a gift to and then whip off the blindfold when you put the present in their hand. Much better for the environment.

Ah well. Enough mumblings and grumblings from a grumpy, tired and boring old sod. I'm going to bed now. And just for the record, I have wrapped all my presents up, I'm not that mean!
Merry Christmas everyone.