Hello and Happy New Year.
After spending a considerable length of time observing members of the human race spending their children's inheritance on gifts and expensive luxuries I can't really say I have noticed an upturn in smiley faces and scenes of loving joy, but I have this year picked up on the apparent 100 mph society we now appear to live in. Take my own retail excursion through the month of December,
The Thursday before Christmas at about 7.40 am I found myself transfixed by the shelf fillers in my local Supermarket. I now accept that if one chooses to beat the rush and shop early in the morning you have to allow for the almost unbearable traffic of delivery cages, pallet trucks, gossiping staff and the in-store cleaner, guiding his Nu Nu around each isle ensuring your shopping experience is as uncomfortable as physically and mentally possible. However after all that I still managed to find myself trapped in the grocery department between a elderly man paying great attention to the loose carrots and some burly warehouse lads unloading what appeared a life long supply of brussell sprouts. I found myself transfixed as they discussed the "vegetable industry" and built a 6ft x 6ft stack of green balls! "They will all be f***** gone by dinner", the confident greengrocer conveyed to his less experienced colleague in a slightly less than professional manner.
Interesting, I thought to myself, all those sprouts gone by dinner!
I had been recommended by the power of advertising the local Aldi store, and so I ventured there earlier in the month to see what all the fuss was about. Well I certainly couldn't complain at the prices but once again, the early morning battle against metal and cardboard was particularly distressing and I found myself on more than one occasion considering abandoning my trolley and heading down the road to the upmarket retailer Lidl. If it wasn't for my desire not to lose my "trolley pound coin" I can assure you I would have beat a hasty retreat much sooner.
After finally completing my shopping and filling my trolley full of non branded food that looked very much like branded food, I headed for the till point and after I had let a a man in a rush through before me with a packet of bacon and an air freshener it was joyously my turn. In all my days I have never seen such precision engineering, I had barely put my fragile eggs and soft fresh loaf on the back of the conveyor and the friendly lady was up and running. In Sainsbury's I am usually allowed the time to gently pack my bags, with freezer stuff in one bag, tins in another etc but my word, I couldn't believe the speed by which she shovelled my shopping into my basket, It looked like it had been picked up by a JCB digger and dropped from a great height, I was stunned into silence, I didn't know if I should applaud her speed of service or be appalled that my yoghurt pots had been so badly distorted there had gone from tubs to tubes!
And so I ventured into my home town of Burnley seeking inspiration for gifts for my dear wife, and after completing my fourth circuit of the precinct I realised that most of the shops had gone, I found myself walking around the 99p shop looking for absolutely nothing, I walked into WHSmith and walked to the newspaper stand, turned round and promptly walked back out only to be marginally impressed that a stationers had now extended it's range to overpriced pix and mix! I wandered into to bargain card shop and bought my wife an expensive looking card for a price that should put the very expensive card shops to shame. I was most impressed that not only did I get a expensive looking card but I also got a very durable paper bag to put it in!
After losing the will, on my annual shopping trip to Burnley I took refuge in Boots and their extensive 3 for 2 range, where it took me probably a good forty to fifty minutes to find the best value for money package deal, I think I picked up scented coat hangers on more than one occasion only for wisdom to intervene! I spoke to a heavily perfumed woman in a Doctors outfit, who served me with my request for my wife's favourite smelly liquid. She spoke to me like I understood the value of spending over the odds on some odory water!
And so to bring the curtain down on a busy month, we fought the biggest battle and went to The Trafford Centre to join the swarm of human beings spending bucket loads of cash on all the stuff the shops couldn't sell before Christmas, and after joining a queue that was only marginally shorter than the opening of a new ride at Alton Towers It didn't take long for the Trafford Centre adrenalin rush to grind to a staggering, painful, agonising halt.
With a family all wanting to visit different shops it didn't take long for the novelty to wear off and when the kids was nagging for dinner at twenty past ten in the morning I concluded it was going to be a somewhat testing time of my life.
However a Nando's lunch did lift the spirits and after my dear wife and I gorged on a chicken combo, and unlimited spurts of fizzy ice I felt more like a lie down than taking on the next leg of the bustling thronging experience of Manchester's premium indoor shopping centre.
And amongst all this buzz and madness, all this giving and receiving, where did Jesus fit into all this?
Well he did, just about! I love my job, but retail and the Christian Christmas festivals are not a match made in heaven!
But among all the hustle and bustle, the carol concert, the school production, the Arden youth choir, the Christingle service, excited children, church on Christmas morning and a lovely day with my family I just about got it. As we settle into the new year and our resolutions fizzle out, and our credit cards creek, our thoughts turn to spring and summer holidays, I really see the importance of space and time for and each other.
As Jesus taught us, we must love one another and so we must be prepared to slow down the pace of life and get things into perspective. If your worn out on the 1st of January 2013 where will you be on 31st December 2013? Please do all you can to find time for yourself and to enjoy the love of your friends and family.
In Christ with you all.
Alextheanglican
After spending a considerable length of time observing members of the human race spending their children's inheritance on gifts and expensive luxuries I can't really say I have noticed an upturn in smiley faces and scenes of loving joy, but I have this year picked up on the apparent 100 mph society we now appear to live in. Take my own retail excursion through the month of December,
The Thursday before Christmas at about 7.40 am I found myself transfixed by the shelf fillers in my local Supermarket. I now accept that if one chooses to beat the rush and shop early in the morning you have to allow for the almost unbearable traffic of delivery cages, pallet trucks, gossiping staff and the in-store cleaner, guiding his Nu Nu around each isle ensuring your shopping experience is as uncomfortable as physically and mentally possible. However after all that I still managed to find myself trapped in the grocery department between a elderly man paying great attention to the loose carrots and some burly warehouse lads unloading what appeared a life long supply of brussell sprouts. I found myself transfixed as they discussed the "vegetable industry" and built a 6ft x 6ft stack of green balls! "They will all be f***** gone by dinner", the confident greengrocer conveyed to his less experienced colleague in a slightly less than professional manner.
Interesting, I thought to myself, all those sprouts gone by dinner!
I had been recommended by the power of advertising the local Aldi store, and so I ventured there earlier in the month to see what all the fuss was about. Well I certainly couldn't complain at the prices but once again, the early morning battle against metal and cardboard was particularly distressing and I found myself on more than one occasion considering abandoning my trolley and heading down the road to the upmarket retailer Lidl. If it wasn't for my desire not to lose my "trolley pound coin" I can assure you I would have beat a hasty retreat much sooner.
After finally completing my shopping and filling my trolley full of non branded food that looked very much like branded food, I headed for the till point and after I had let a a man in a rush through before me with a packet of bacon and an air freshener it was joyously my turn. In all my days I have never seen such precision engineering, I had barely put my fragile eggs and soft fresh loaf on the back of the conveyor and the friendly lady was up and running. In Sainsbury's I am usually allowed the time to gently pack my bags, with freezer stuff in one bag, tins in another etc but my word, I couldn't believe the speed by which she shovelled my shopping into my basket, It looked like it had been picked up by a JCB digger and dropped from a great height, I was stunned into silence, I didn't know if I should applaud her speed of service or be appalled that my yoghurt pots had been so badly distorted there had gone from tubs to tubes!
And so I ventured into my home town of Burnley seeking inspiration for gifts for my dear wife, and after completing my fourth circuit of the precinct I realised that most of the shops had gone, I found myself walking around the 99p shop looking for absolutely nothing, I walked into WHSmith and walked to the newspaper stand, turned round and promptly walked back out only to be marginally impressed that a stationers had now extended it's range to overpriced pix and mix! I wandered into to bargain card shop and bought my wife an expensive looking card for a price that should put the very expensive card shops to shame. I was most impressed that not only did I get a expensive looking card but I also got a very durable paper bag to put it in!
After losing the will, on my annual shopping trip to Burnley I took refuge in Boots and their extensive 3 for 2 range, where it took me probably a good forty to fifty minutes to find the best value for money package deal, I think I picked up scented coat hangers on more than one occasion only for wisdom to intervene! I spoke to a heavily perfumed woman in a Doctors outfit, who served me with my request for my wife's favourite smelly liquid. She spoke to me like I understood the value of spending over the odds on some odory water!
And so to bring the curtain down on a busy month, we fought the biggest battle and went to The Trafford Centre to join the swarm of human beings spending bucket loads of cash on all the stuff the shops couldn't sell before Christmas, and after joining a queue that was only marginally shorter than the opening of a new ride at Alton Towers It didn't take long for the Trafford Centre adrenalin rush to grind to a staggering, painful, agonising halt.
With a family all wanting to visit different shops it didn't take long for the novelty to wear off and when the kids was nagging for dinner at twenty past ten in the morning I concluded it was going to be a somewhat testing time of my life.
However a Nando's lunch did lift the spirits and after my dear wife and I gorged on a chicken combo, and unlimited spurts of fizzy ice I felt more like a lie down than taking on the next leg of the bustling thronging experience of Manchester's premium indoor shopping centre.
And amongst all this buzz and madness, all this giving and receiving, where did Jesus fit into all this?
Well he did, just about! I love my job, but retail and the Christian Christmas festivals are not a match made in heaven!
But among all the hustle and bustle, the carol concert, the school production, the Arden youth choir, the Christingle service, excited children, church on Christmas morning and a lovely day with my family I just about got it. As we settle into the new year and our resolutions fizzle out, and our credit cards creek, our thoughts turn to spring and summer holidays, I really see the importance of space and time for and each other.
As Jesus taught us, we must love one another and so we must be prepared to slow down the pace of life and get things into perspective. If your worn out on the 1st of January 2013 where will you be on 31st December 2013? Please do all you can to find time for yourself and to enjoy the love of your friends and family.
In Christ with you all.
Alextheanglican
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