Avoiding supermarket Xmas jollity.

Charleygirl5 Ooh, yes, Easter. A special time to get fat and help the destruction of the rainforest by eating crap chocolate made with palm oil. What better way to commemorate some fictional bloke who was nailed a cross?

HettyBetty-have no fear, Easter fayre will be on the shelves before the start of next year.

I meet friends occasionally at a restaurant which is around 5 miles away from me and there is a company close to it which never takes down its posters for selling Christmas trees so if you want one in July, no problem.

i have never liked christmas, started with a drunk step father and having to stay up to help mum assemble and wrap younger siblings presents, i made an effort when my son was growing up, we lost his dad when he was 16 on the 28th november. my local supermarket is playing all the christmas music and i just find it annoying, i do my main shop online but needed a few things so went on saturday morning when they have no music and the lights are dimmed down. i found it very relaxing and going to make an effort to make sure i have enough to do me all week and just do a top up early saturday morning.

As someone who hasn’t lost a loved one near Christmas I can’t appreciate what it must be like for those of you who have. I’m sorry that the Christmas music in shops is so upsetting for you and the staff who have to work in these stores. But personally I don’t really mind it for the time I’m doing the shopping but would like to hear it starting in December and not before!

I try to avoid shops as much as possible from about mid October onwards. Why on earth they all have to fill their shelves with Christmas tat for weeks on end is beyond me. The same does not happen for other religious festivals such as Diwali. Why does Christmas have such a monopoly? Yes, yes, I know it is because Britain is/was a fundamentally Christian country but I am not in that group and find it intensely irritating.

I can't stand the music, dislike all the tat and see reason to fill myself with more food just because some people believe a "special" baby was born in Bethlehem thousands of years ago.

Bah humbug indeed!

The only Christmas music I really like is proper carols, sung by proper choirs. And not before 1st December, or the start of Advent, anyway.
But supermarkets are never going to play those, are they? Only the glitzy, jazzed up stuff, sung by either breathy or shouty voices.

Occasionally in John Lewis I’ve happened to hear a primary school choir singing carols for some charity or other, which was lovely.

I’ve spent one very sad Christmas when I heard in mid December that my father was dying - the date is etched forever on my brain - he died shortly after Christmas. But it hasn’t left lasting sad shadows, maybe because I know that’s the last thing a jolly type like him would ever have wanted.

What a miserable thread!

Yes, it can be overdone but if this thread is anything to go by, UK grannies don’t like Christmas (but heaven help anybody who suggests we have too much “stuff” when it comes to treating ourselves for Christmas)
UK grannies hate traditional Christmas fare, but make their own mincemeat, bake their own mince pies, Christmas cakes and observe “stir-up Sunday”
Everybody hates Chtistmas but we have lengthy threads about Who spends Christmas where and with whom

Actually I dislike canned music per se but what’s wrong with a bit of Christmas music to help get us in the mood? Just spare a thought for the checkout assistants and those on the shop floor who have to endure throughout the whole day!
And before I am shouted down by those who lost loved ones around Christmas - my condolences, but my first little boy died aged 3 weeks at the end of October in 1973 (that was a hard Christmas) my Mum died in November 1997 and DH died in November 2017 - so yes Christmas (and birthdays and anniversaries) are tinged with sadness but we also need to see the joy in festivals such as Christmas and Easter and stop moaning.

It's all overdone, isn't it? I am alright this year as family are visiting for Christmas but in previous years when it has been just the two of us I have found all the jollity hard to bear even whilst recognising I am jolly lucky to have dh to share it with.
I think we need a compromise - nothing Christmassy in the shops or on TV/radio before 1st December. When I am PM - shouldn't be long now as nearly everyone else has had a turn - I shall legislate for no Christmas until 1st December.

I think everyone should write to shops that play annoying music and explain why they shouldn't do it. Some of the stories here are a good reason.

A someone said, I feel so sorry for the staff. It's a kind of torture and really shouldn't be allowed. That's another thing to mention - have they considered the mental health of their staff?

An ideal solution is for shops to play music for 4 hours only in either the morning or the afternoon, not both. That way the staff get some peace and the shoppers know how to avoid the music.

I have to say Superdrug always played the most annoying loud pop music, which was so bad I couldn't concentrate on reading the product labels. Just why??????

There will always be some music playing that could upset somebody.
Carols are lovely but not all the Christmas songs, need I remind anyone of Noddy Holder?
So pleased to have my shopping delivered now.

Jaxjacky I know what you mean about music on a loop, the supermarket I work in plays 2 songs on the loop.

One is "Feilds of gold" which was my mums funeral song & the other is "Snow patrol, chasing cars" which was played at my young nephews funeral.

I try my best not to listen but it's difficult.

Are there any really effective earplugs?

Ellylanes1

Yes Xmas is a lovely happy time for many people, enjoying the shopping, preparation etc. in anticipation of a lovely day. That is as it should be.
However for those of us who dread Xmas (yes I know it's only 1 day) but it drags on for months.
For our various reasons some feel isolated, not part of the crowd.
Does anyone think it would be a good thing to request supermarkets (we all need to eat, it isn't a cholce) to play ordinary music for a couple of hours per week to facilitate the non Xmas crowd ie bereived?
Just a thought.

I absolutely hate it- even worse in large shopping centres. Americanized synthetic Christmas on a loop- drives me bonkers. I avoid like the plague.

I really hate Christmas it has far too many memories and ghosts for me so Christmas music is out . I went in to have my cataract operation and when wheeled in to have it done they were playing Christmas music. I told them to stop right there and find some classical music to relax me . They struggled but found some . One of out local shops windows is already decorated with a tree .

I’ve had great pleasure in ordering my Christmas Turkey from sainsburys on line they’ve designated meadeliveryslot way in advance and I’m delighted to say itwas only£24 and in comparison to some butchers much cheaper. I used to shop from a butcher north of Scotland who delivered to my door his turkeys are believe it or not £100+ err no thank you that’ll be the last he hears from me

Get in quick you lovely gnetters theirs gonna be a shortage this year according to the news and bird flu.

Josianne

Losing someone at any time of year is painful, though I'm guessing it is even harder at Christmas time with all the jolly stuff going on around.

But Christmas music in supermarkets doesn't get people dancing in the aisles or leaping about, does it? And if they played ordinary music that might be just as upsetting to someone who has memories of a favourite song.

Oh Josianne but it does! My DGC (5&8) refuse to go shopping with their usually 'bah humbug ' Nanny due to knowing I'm rather partial to Nanny-dancing! Even in a supermarket...

I am going through another period of depression/anxiety and i feel like someone has died, inside my head, at the moment. I am doing my best not to listen to the music but i understand where u are coming from completely.

Music does profoundly stir the emotions, there's no doubt about it. But so do other things. I remember being in a supermarket near Christmas with my first baby and saw some special biscuits my mum always bought. I burst into tears because she had died just days before my baby was born. The supervisor took me into the office and asked if I had post natal depression! It's hard, but the shop wasn't at fault.

Ive just had my shopping from Tesco and am glad I dont have to go to supermarkets any more. I hate them - not only the canned muzak but the kids underfoot, trailing around the aisles with a clumsy trolly and the bloody queues! Im so grateful for the delivery staff to come to my door in the cold.

I think it's one of the hardest things to accept when someone has died.
Life does go on, and you're just left trying to negotiate your way through a sea of memories on your own.

You cant expect people to tiptoe around you, but boy! It hurts.

As somebody said upthread, Waitrose do not subject us to music, but Christmas 2017, just a couple of weeks after DH died they had the Salvation Army playing Christmas Carols outside and of course you could hear them in the store.
I had to abandon my trolley and take refuge in my car, tears streaming down my face

In the last year I have lost three people who were very close to me, we spent a lot of time together, the pain is still raw and there is a huge void, but I have the memories and certain aspects of Christmas preparation and music trigger happy memories as well as the feeling of loss. I like to see people enjoying Christmas and entering into the spirit of the festivities. My decorations are up even though I know no one else will see them this year and I am cooking a turkey with all the trimmings.

Thanks Kwest

Where there's life, there's hope. Thanks for the love and strength. xxx

I shop online and click and collect groceries. I worked in a department store for 13 years. Christmas music started in November and preparations in October. You lose the Christmas spirit early on when you work in retail...

Dear Onward and upward there are no words.....
You have found the courage to cope with this situation, however painful. I send you strength and love to keep on keeping on. xxxxx