The Lemon Fool

Just like all good Bitter Lemons I hate and loathe Christmas, so I'm always on the lookout for another chance for a good ol' moan about it.

And just such a chance dropped into my lap perfectly yesterday! Mooching around the ghastly "Tesco Local" in Ludgershall, I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

On September 26th fergoodnessake!!! Is this a record?

Or is this the cue for a long series of posts citing even earlier starts to the "Christmas Season"?

Now on the lookout for the first instance this year of that other perennial cause for a moan, anything saying "Seasons Greetings" with no apostrophe...

Ahhh... thats better.

I havent even celebrated last Christmas yet. I should get my finger out or they will be piling up.

Tedx wrote:I havent even celebrated last Christmas yet. I should get my finger out or they will be piling up.

Ah yes, it did cross my mind they might be a permanent display still there from last year! Given they are UPFs the sell-by could easily be 2033...

On an unseasonably hot day last Saturday the pub I had lunch in had a fully decorated Christmas tree in the entrance lobby complete with a stack of "book early to avoid disappointment" forms fanned around its base.
It struck me that if demand is expected to be frenzied why is it necessary for them to start pestering customers so early.

Mike4 wrote:
On September 26th fergoodnessake!!! Is this a record?

one word
Ridiculous

Dicky99 wrote:On an unseasonably hot day last Saturday the pub I had lunch in had a fully decorated Christmas tree in the entrance lobby complete with a stack of "book early to avoid disappointment" forms fanned around its base.

I would've regarded that as a strong reason to boycott the pub in question and take my business elsewhere.

Indeed, I do my best to avoid buying from anywhere that inflicts humbuggery on us before at least the beginning of December.

Mike4 wrote:I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

The upside of that is that more exotic or luxury foods normally only available at Christmas can be obtained for the next three months, particularly if they come frozen.

Not being religious, and not being interested in Jesus Christ etc., I don't understand all the excitement about Christmas. Sometimes I think it's all about flogging people a load of junk. A miserable time of year in many ways. I always avoid it.

The mince pies have been out for weeks - I'm on my second box.

They do go over date on 8th Dec though, which makes Sainsbury's "It's never too early" logo underneath a bit misleading.

Mike4 wrote:And just such a chance dropped into my lap perfectly yesterday! Mooching around the ghastly "Tesco Local" in Ludgershall, I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

On September 26th fergoodnessake!!! Is this a record?

I am confused. If they have Christmas stock on show, where on earth do they find room for the halloween rubbish?

Dicky99 wrote:On an unseasonably hot day last Saturday the pub I had lunch in had a fully decorated Christmas tree in the entrance lobby complete with a stack of "book early to avoid disappointment" forms fanned around its base.

It struck me that if demand is expected to be frenzied why is it necessary for them to start pestering customers so early.

In the last week or so I've started getting emails from every hostelry that has my name about booking for Christmas.

If you hate Christmas I highly recommend having a Jewish wife. I am totally off the hook for it.

Mike4 wrote:Just like all good Bitter Lemons I hate and loathe Christmas, so I'm always on the lookout for another chance for a good ol' moan about it.

And just such a chance dropped into my lap perfectly yesterday! Mooching around the ghastly "Tesco Local" in Ludgershall, I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

On September 26th fergoodnessake!!! Is this a record?

Or is this the cue for a long series of posts citing even earlier starts to the "Christmas Season"?

Now on the lookout for the first instance this year of that other perennial cause for a moan, anything saying "Seasons Greetings" with no apostrophe...

Ahhh... thats better.

Mike4 added to my Foe list

Just joking like

I'm sure Mike, that you're more than aware of the leverage you have just so kindly provided me with

Let's the games commence

Mince pies, meh . They should have been selling Christmas cake rammed with all those fruity things they put in them.

AiY(D)
PS ... I've reported you to Santa

Climate change init? All the seasons are out of kilter.

Mike4 wrote:anything saying "Seasons Greetings" with no apostrophe...

Of course the apostrophe comes after the s, as Christmas obviously covers multiple seasons, given that we're only just started bloomin' autumn...

Scott.

I noticed in M & S that they are selling Hot Cross Buns. Seems a bit early for that and they were not so stale as to be left overs from Easter '23.

Dod

In this household we don't start thinking about Christmas until after Remembrance Day. Irrelevant old farts that we are.

BJ

Mike4 wrote:...I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

Mince pies!
Xmas pud!
Stollen!
Lebkuchen!
and of course Turkey!
Hooray....

We booked our country-house hotel Xmas ... last Xmas.

Probably a little bit early to get the decorations down from the attic...

V8

Dod101 wrote:I noticed in M & S that they are selling Hot Cross Buns. Seems a bit early for that and they were not so stale as to be left overs from Easter '23.

Dod

I believe that some supermarkets sell them all year round

RC

bungeejumper wrote:In this household we don't start thinking about Christmas until after Remembrance Day. Irrelevant old farts that we are.

BJ

I nowadays live on my own and so I start thinking about Christmas around about the 20th of December, apart from ordering a few Christmas hampers for the family a bit earlier.

Dod

Mike4 wrote:Just like all good Bitter Lemons I hate and loathe Christmas, so I'm always on the lookout for another chance for a good ol' moan about it.

And just such a chance dropped into my lap perfectly yesterday! Mooching around the ghastly "Tesco Local" in Ludgershall, I encountered a shelf display loaded with Christmas fare - holly decorated mince pies, Xmas puddings and all that.

On September 26th fergoodnessake!!! Is this a record?

Or is this the cue for a long series of posts citing even earlier starts to the "Christmas Season"?

Now on the lookout for the first instance this year of that other perennial cause for a moan, anything saying "Seasons Greetings" with no apostrophe...

Ahhh... thats better.

Hurray! The traditional mark of the beginning of the Christmas season: the first post moaning about how early Christmas seems to have started this year.

DM