I used to be a huge huge fan of Boxing Day (not to the point where I would start lining up at 7pm on Christmas day in order to score a flat screen TV) when I was younger, but for me, it has lost its lustre. I think part of it is the realization that most of the merchants just put out their crap leftover from the previous year and try and sell it at deep (and lately I find, not so deep) discounts.
Uh… What’s Boxing Day?
For those of you that don’t know what Boxing Day is (which is basically anyone NOT from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada), according to Wikipedia, it occurs on December 26 and its origin is said to be from the Roman era where the more well-to-do place boxes of goodies outside the Churches for those less fortunate.
Why is it Bad?
Now it has become a mass frenzy of consumerism (an extension of the associated Christmas consumerism of course). Not only do you have Boxing Day where people line up at insane hours of the day just to wait to be the first one to get the 1 of 5 available $899 50″ flat screen television, you get Boxing Week too, which basically is Boxing Day for the entire week. It’s a sign for the public to BUY BUY BUY and… not stop buying.
It’s now EVEN EASIER (which is scary for me because I hate line ups) to participate in Boxing Day. You can do it from the safety of your own home (without having the brave the mad crowd) by participating in the Cyber version of Boxing Day. I find this much more dangerous than shopping in person because you don’t have to wait in line, you don’t have to get dressed and brave the cold, and you don’t have to find parking.
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