My 1st rant, on STW…
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Went into Morrisons – walked up the Kitchen Aisle, and what was there….
FUXXING XMAS CHOCCCIES, WRAPPING PAPER, CARDS, BISCUITS – THE WHOLE 9 YARDS….WTF!!!! NO WONDER WERE IN A MESS WITH CONSUMER SPENDING WHEN MASSIVE ORGANISATIONS GOAD POOR CONSUMERS INTO BUYING USELESS TATT, MONTHS IN ADVANCE, KIDS GET HYPED AND EXPECTANT, AND THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS GOES DOWN THE SWANEE……..draws breath 👿 😈
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Generally I am prone to ranting (according to the family), but this is just plain wrong on so many levels, it’s 17 deg and sunny outside, the kids have just gone back to school….TOTALLY WTF!

Just like to clear this up – what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

panic buying a couple of days before the 25th December.

It’s definitely not Morrisons selling wrapping paper, boxes of chocolates, cards this time of year.
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How about peace and goodwill to all men, rather than outright consumerism?

Nice STW response there Mr Woppit.

What do we reckon – 4 or 5 pages on Christianity, multi-cultural Britain and how xmas is all the fault of those damn yule-celebrating pagans?

Is it me or are the Xmas cards getting earlier rants, getting earlier every year?

MASSIVE ORGANISATIONS GOAD POOR CONSUMERS INTO BUYING USELESS TATT

Good morning, I’m brewing coffee would you like some? Welcome to capitalism 🙂

what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

Brandy??

Is it me or are the Xmas cards getting earlier rants, getting earlier every year?

yes its just you.

Just like to clear this up – what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

Child sacrifice… I like to stick to the old pagan ways me.

I sympthise with the OP, but this is why I avoid shops, all shops, (except mine and the [not so local] LBS) like the plague. I would just get too cross.

We’ve still got the joy of Halloween to endure!

All the christmas Stollen and Lebkuchen have been in the shops here for 2 weeks. Even Woolies used to be slow off the mark in comparison.

I’d say its a sure sign of desperation, as the major retailers realise that the days of “oh sod it! Just bung it on the credit card!” are well and truly ancient history.

The same stuff will still be sat on the shelves a week before christmas. All discounted by 50%. I think a few major high street retailers will be presently staring down the barrel of their last ever christmas

NO WONDER WERE IN A MESS WITH CONSUMER SPENDING WHEN MASSIVE ORGANISATIONS GOAD POOR CONSUMERS INTO BUYING USELESS TATT

Which Consumer Spending “MESS” would be solved by companies not selling products to customers ?

I’m not sure I follow what your saying.

I’m sure it would be on the shelves even earlier, but they were full of back to school stuff. Odd that the christmas food is on the shelves before the kiddies halloween costumes.

Use of capitals 9/10
Poor spelling 1/10
Poor grammar 4/10
Incoherence 2/10
Swearing 3/10
For 1st effort C-.Promising but needs more effort.

Use of capitals 9/10
Poor spelling 1/10
Poor grammar 4/10
Incoherence 2/10
Swearing 3/10
For 1st effort C-.Promising but needs more effort.

I actually feel the use of capitals was far to consistent and lacked any sense of randomness, 3/10 being generous.
But the rant as a whole was so much more than the sum of it’s parts, as evidenced by the variety and speed of responses. It’s created a thread with the potential for total protonic reversal.
Thoroughly engaging content, on so many levels : A-

For me it lost points after a promising start “I was in morrisons…” oh its gonna be good, the various sizes of food bag, the fact that some product in lots of wrapping is cheaper than some product loose, the quality of staff in the cage they keep the banana people in… but it was the early appearence of christmas, an obvious target and while yes we can all sympathise it is bordering on cliche.

That said once the rant begin it went on for a good while, several lines, a bit of a argument formulated. could have gone on longer. I’d say C+/B-, OP needs a greater belief in their own ranting power.

Maybe you could get a grant from somewhere to develope your ranting further, or go on courses in the evening?

Just like to clear this up – what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

Well, obviously it’s gathering together with your friends and family in Christian fellowship to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour*

*sorry druidh

Which Consumer Spending “MESS” would be solved by companies not selling products to customers ?

I’m not sure I follow what your saying.
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Spending on the right stuff like education, NHS, roads etc rather than retailers convincing us Xmas stuff is relevant now, and again later – too much of life’s cash is spent on tatt….soooo it’s a case of not the amount, more what we are bamboozled in buying.

Not in our house it isn’t. Booze, food, greenery, child sacrifice. We celebrate yule, but we call it christmas as that gets us days off work etc.

I quite like celebrating Santa’s Birthday as early as possible, but I suppose we should wait ’til Satan has had his on the 31/10. It’s a wee bit cheeky otherwise.

Oh oh, forgot about firewroks too! That was the popes birthday, or was it Guido Fawkes…? Oh well, it’s all good fun!

Mmm, mulled wine season…

If you’re going to rant, you can’t start with a polite “Here’s my rant” or it’s obviously all pre-planned.

this’ll upset you – open all year round Christmas Shop

IMO, it should be law that christmas should not be mentioned until after bon fire night.

Unless maybe if you’re organising a christmas holiday or something…

Spending on the right stuff like education, NHS, roads etc rather than retailers convincing us Xmas stuff is relevant now

I’m sorry, you have lost me.

Are you saying rather than Christmas Cards and Ferrero Rocher, I should spend my wages on a wages for an extra Teaching Assisant, an MRI machine and a bypass for the village ???

(I think you may have got “consumer spending” and “government spending” mixed up ??)

The Premier Inn in Guildford has a Christmas tree up and decorated in the restaurant – all the Premier Inns will have now

Threads like this are the reason I still browse STW. I think a “best of the forum” Christmas book would be ace

Not so much as a sprig of holly goes up in our house until Dec 21st. That is the winter soltice. You can’t celebrate the passing of a day until that day has passed… stand to reason doesn’t it. You don’t celebrate your birthday 4 months before it happens, We don’t celebrate easter in January, we don’t go trick or treating in July and we don’t go on our summer holidays February. Harvest festival isn’t in June and we don’t put the winter bloody olympics on in September. Midweek movies is on Sunday out of anticipation and you don’t tweet #ff on Wednesday cos it wouldn’t make any bloody sense. But christmas for some reason lasts 4 bloody months and its only a 12 days festival, as a result most people have taken everything down before new year. That’s like the last four days of the olympics taknig place while builder START DISMANTLING THE Statium AROUND THEM!!!!!!!!!!! It’s like Everyone going home at half time in the FA cup final. Or only playing the first 3 levels of a computer game because you spent so long waiting for it to come out. its madness, a deranged desire to live permanently live in the future at cost of the present and I FOR ONE REFUSE TO PLAY ALONG!!!

#bit more like that would be my advice…

MASSIVE ORGANISATIONS GOAD POOR CONSUMERS INTO BUYING USELESS TATT

But surely this means that someone is actually buying that crap this early? Supermarkets wouldn’t use valuable retail space to showcase something that doesn’t sell, right?

/\ Now that’s how you rant AA+

‘m sorry, you have lost me.

Are you saying rather than Christmas Cards and Ferrero Rocher, I should spend my wages on a wages for an extra Teaching Assisant, an MRI machine and a bypass for the village ???

(I think you may have got “consumer spending” and “government spending” mixed up ??)
Nope – don’t think so, money going into pockets of large corporations is the same money going to fund worthwhile projects. Weather it’s consumer or Govt spending it’s all part of the same merry-go-round, and there is only one pot of cash – that how “the economy” works. Supermarkets beguile consumers into thinking “they want” the products offered, this is exactly what this post misses –

But surely this means that someone is actually buying that crap this early? Supermarkets wouldn’t use valuable retail space to showcase something that doesn’t sell, right?

– wrong! They tell you what they think you want and then sell it to you

Nope – don’t think so,

I do.

The money in my pocket, is not going to build roads/hospitals/schools until I spend it on something.

Then the TAX on those purchases goes into the government funds.

Then Government Spending builds Hospitals/School/Roads etc.

.
The other upside of me spending my money, is that it provides employment, so other people can earn money and do the same.

.
If we all stopped buying things, the “merry-go-round” stops.

Mr Woppit – Member
Just like to clear this up – what is “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF XMAS” exactly?

Unity, helping each other out, putting differences to one side, celebrating family and friends, plus the religious aspects which I suppose encompasses those things.

Why dont you boycott that isle?

Im sorry but due to ministerial pressure on the watchdog

all grades awarded for rants are being downgraded by one full grade

xmas will proceed ahead as normal- an orgy of overindulgence, greed and capitalism- whinging about it wont change anything

wrong! They tell you what they think you want and then sell it to you

It’s not that simple. There’s an interplay. Supply shapes demand but vice versa too.

All the christmas Stollen and Lebkuchen have been in the shops here for 2 weeks.

I have no problem with this as both products are awesome, especially Lebkuchen, nomnomnom…

No problem with them selling the tat early, you don’t have to buy it. However the Christmas Music in shops is what annoys me as it becomes an unavoidable aural assault, unless I shop with my iPod on which seems a bit rude.

I am the biggest fan of Christmas. Which as a 25 year old guy is a bit lame.

Me and my fiance bought our first house this year so I cant wait to do all the christmassy stuff in our own home this year, decorate it, have friends and family over etc.

But I refuse to accept it before mid-November at the earliest. When there is still Haloween and Bonfire night to look forward to its not acceptable to play christmas songs in shops and have decorations up. I can accept that they might want to sell some stuff though which is ok as many people will need to spread the cost.

However the Christmas Music in shops is what annoys me as it becomes an unavoidable aural assault

Aye, this is true. One thing always gets me a bit annoyed about Christmas is the pap that the secular musicians churn out. You can’t beat the old Christian Christmas Carols IMO, but when Wham, Wizzard et al start getting put on a loop I just “feel the urge to kill rising”.

I was totally converted on chirstmas music to ‘early’ or medeival christmas music. Much jollier than carols and often pretty bawdy / funny too. Fantastic stuff. Better than carols IMO

“Oh god this song is boring”
OH God This Song Is Boring
OH GOD THIS SONG IS BORING AND WE’VE SIX. MORE. TO Gooooooooo.”