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I've spent a fairly tense morning "shopping" in Stafford - the roads appeared to be not just over-full, but overfull with people who had no idea how to drive! People were wandering from lane to lane, cutting each other up (at 5-10mph) and then losing their tempers about it etc etc

The car park in Tesco was even worse with people exhibiting a degree of ill-temper and rage I've not seen the like of.

If that's the Christmas spirit you can keep it - I'm leaving the car at home until next Wednesday at the earliest!

It never ceases to amaze me that people buy trolley loads of food .. more than even our lot could get through at one of our parties. (You know size of this family.. I dread our "turn" to entertain the riff raff. ).

Guess they all want to do the shopping ... One of those times when I will just get the internet to deliver what we need. .. Though - yep - I did stock up at Pidou's the other week on my way back from Paris and Wildy did the same thing.

So far .. we seem to be on track. Pleasant smells of honey and cinammon biscuits, mince tarts and other goodies wafting from the kitchen ... mingled with the prospect of a shepherd's pie. for evening meal. We pick up the turkey and the goose plus spuds and veg from the local farm on Sunday .. Gload we live up here mate! Though Wildy and our eldest daughter say they had a lot of "fun" on the car park at our local supermarket. Some muppet blocked Wildy in.. and only managed to wriggle out of it with a bit of "management help" from our eldest daughter. Both say they saw bouts of trolley rage at the tills with one shopper being really unpleasant to the poor kid on the tills who happens to be Steph's classmate at school. Wildy stepped in with a few pleasanteries... the little hat with "Bah Humbug! My Mad Doc's a right Scrooge" :rofl: seemed to deflect the rage ... she apparently ranted about the lack of "sparklies from the jeweller's up the hill from the chip shop" despite her "subtlest hints in magnetic letters on our fridge!"

I am told the raging woman with the trolley is firmly on Wildy's side here and thinks I should be "castrated the painful way"

Now .. to our new users. But please refrain from agreeing to this Even though they "hate them cats!"

I will not be swayed. Her present is secret! :

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I'm always impressed at how a similar amount of traffic can cause so much more chaos when less experienced drivers are involved.

What you're seeing, Prof, is a town full of people who probably don't usually drive very much or far, and consequently they clog up the road with their half-trained antics.

In Dorset, the same traffic density at holiday travelling times causes immensely more chaos than that at normal commuting rush hour. This largely seems to be down to an inability to merge two lanes or behave correctly on roundabouts and junctions.

I avoid town centres from the week before Xmas til about the 28th as they're just too horrendous for words. Everyone is in such a rush and bad tempered it is better to keep out of their way. I over stock from the supermarket that weekend then just use the local shop for any bits I run out of. It is much easier this way

All my Xmas shopping is done via t'internet or supermarket while doing normal shopping to minimise the hassle factor. I just wish I could get all my things ready wrapped as that is another chore I don't like about Xmas. One day I'll get round to getting lots of gift boxes and bags so I don't have to bother with proper wrapping!

Yep, plus a few other factors I feel. At xmas we seem to take leave of our sense

Folks head to the shops already in a hightened state of anxiety, ready to shop as if they are about to recreate the seige of St Petersburg. They aren't looking forward to it knowing the supermarket will be a throng of humanity and are spoiling for a fight when they collide head on with the rest of the 'me-first' society in Tescos car park.
None of this lends itself to considered and thoughtful behaviour behind the wheel, unless you've learned to chill and let it wash over you. If someone wants to bat down the wrong lane to cut into the queue to get into the retail park...so what? If they want to get a pissy on over a parking space, good for them.

I will never know where this two week shop shut down came from as I recall my sisters being told by trhe M&S sotre they had a Sixth form Saturday job in that - "unless supported by doctor's note - they'd eb sacked if they did not work a Saturday Boxing Day".. and they certainly recounted ... "busiest day they'd ever had!" This was over 20 years ago by the way..

We do not have a retail shut down as such.

But this time of the year.. people want the one day to be "perfect" We take it as it comes.. and we tend to enjoy our kids and play with them. OK .. so I really want to play with the toys

Our meal? We have it when it's cooked and when we feel like eating it as well. Only reason why we have Goose and Turkey.. seasonal and our kids do have healthy appetites. We do not really do "fancy" even though Wildy can do so.

But this time of year.. you do see people as they really are both in reality and in cyberspace - alas don't we Jeff.

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

Whilst driving I commented to my brother (he was in the passenger seat, thats still legal right?) that Christmas seems to bring out the 'stupid' in people.

He rightly pointed out that Christmas in fact brings out the people, who are all stupid, so my observations held little surprise!

I do also agree with Johnny's thoughts and, similarly to teabelly, I have enjoyed spending this past month smugly telling of how all my shopping was done on t'intrarwebnet in November!!

I go to Waitrose every week when it opens at 08.30 on Saturday.

On a normal Saturday, I cruise into the car park which contains, maybe, 10 cars and I always park, alone, away from the door ( I don't like people opening their doors into me).

Today, there was a long queue to get into the full car park. There was a demeanour of desperation about the people crowded into the shop. Why? The shop is only shut for one day, for God's sake. You only need to carry on as usual - not panic.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.