They stuck a "Christmas tree" up in our local Tesco as early as November 3 (pronounced 'three').

It isn't there to enhance the 'Christmas spirit', it's there to make them money.

It's obvious that Christmas has lost any religious meaning it once had, seeing as how the ads for it begin in late September.

When I was a lad it didn't start till Christmas Eve and the magic of the event flowed over you.

Nowadays you're sick of the sound of Christmas weeks before it's due; it's worse than eczema, a horrible itch that you just have to scratch. They should rename it 'Eczemas' because it's not even a patch on 'Xmas' any more. It's just a rotten excuse to indulge ourselves more and more.

And the stores are open on Boxing Day, aptly named for a punch-up if anyone gets in your way as you make a grab for that sale price beer you're wanting for the New Year's Eve celebrations.

If you swallow enough you won't recover until January 2; New Year's Day's always an anti-climax anyway.

Philip Fletcher