When is the UK going to see a situation like the post-Thanksgiving rush in the States; people injured and in some cases even trampled to death, all in the name of consumerism and must-have junk that will (I guarantee you) end up cluttering your shelves and cupboards until you re-gift them in next year's secret santa. Sure, you can get a cut-price DVD at Zavvi, but the savings that marketers entice you into aren't really that enormous. Switching continents, why are you braving heart-attack inducing crowds to get a Pottery Barn ornament for $1.50 from $3.00?
Sure, I've done a Boxing Day sale. Once. I lost faith in humanity after that day, witnessing adults shoving each other like children at the popular swingset over a set of Egyptian cotton pillowcases.
To be fair, I'll do my bit of Boxing Day consumerism, looking for sales but not getting my hopes up. All of this will be done online though - I have a couple of things on my to-get list (a bedroom furniture set, a rug and an egg poacher), but nothing that can't wait for a week or eight if I must physically enter a shop. I'll also be spending time with family, rather than getting aggravated after another person takes the parking spot I signaled for. There are bargains to be found online without needing to go to a shop; John Lewis started their sale on Christmas Eve, with other major feeling-the-pinch retailers following suit. Why not do us SEM folks a favor and www it this year?
I hope those of you who braved cold weather and even colder fellow humans have a productive Boxing Day.
