Vena McGrath, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
Blogs by Vena McGrath
Tuesday 26 December - Boxing Day 12/25/2006 3:27:16 PM
The history of Boxing Day is obscure Historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes.
I was under the belief that it was the day that people boxed up presents they received that they didn't want, in readiness to return them to the stores.
Another theory is that the boxes placed in churches where parishioners deposited coins for the poor were opened and the contents distributed on December 26, which is also the Feast of St. Stephen. (I can't imagine this still happens as Churches appear to me to be businesses, and not in the business of charity).
As time went by, Boxing Day gift giving expanded to include those who had rendered a service during the previous year. This tradition survives today as people give presents to tradesmen, mail carriers, doormen, porters, and others who have helped them.
But whatever the reason, it's always a gift to us in Australia to have 2 days in a row as public holidays. Today in Sydney, and no doubt in all states, there are no shops open except in the CBD and tourist areas where staff agree to work on the holiday. Service stations are of course open for business selling fuel, and in Australia the
servos, as we call them, have mini shops where you can buy staples such as milk, coffee, tea, biscuits, cereal - in fact a lot of the things you would normally go to the supermarket for. The price you pay for these items are marked up by a huge % to the supermarkets - so you pay for running out of whatever you may buy there.
We unfortunately ran out of loo (toilet) paper this morning and as there are 5 of us here at the moment instead of 3, my son took off to the service station in another suburb to buy supplies. He paid $3 at least more for 4 rolls than we would pay in a supermarket. So a big markup for convenience.
According to the news reports online, there are a lot of people in the city today for the CBD sales. It's a tradition to rush to the sales for the few really decent bargains available. Most of the sales consist of stock the stores haven't been able to move all year. I remember when I worked in a retail shopping centre. I would watch with interest a particular jewellery shop where the tickets in the windows would have people gasping at the savings. But, having observed the prices before the sales, I would note that often the prices had actually gone up, not down!
Same went for a large retailer that sold clothing for males/females/children/babies. I would see something that struck my eye before the sales and noted that during the sales, despite that item being on a sales rack, the price remained as it had always been. Needless to say, I steer clear of the sales knowing a bit too much about them and the lack of truth in the prices displayed.
So today for me, no rushing by train or car to the city of Sydney for bargains. It's disheartening anyhow to see something that you may have paid quite a bit for before Christmas on sale for a lot less. It appears from the news item that the biggest savings are in electrical good.
To all of you overseas, a very Merry Christmas Day. Ours has been and gone and the day was cool - rare for Sydney Australia. No one ventured into the pool even though the solar heating had been on all day. There was a cool breeze blowing and that put us all off getting wet. We had our barbecue dinner with lots of salads, and toasted the day with some beautiful South Australian wines.
Once we had eaten we managed to stagger inside after cleaning up the outdoor area. We didn't return out there as the night became positively cold. It snowed in Tasmania, Victoria and the Alps in southern NSW! You could feel the chill in the air here and I was even tempted to get the fire going. How strange for Sydney at Christmas when normally we are either surrounded by bush fires or so hot you don't even want to eat.
In Brisbane, Queensland, they had temperatures of 32 celcius to 37 celicius further north, with high humidity. Just over 1000 kilometres south, in Sydney, the population was donning jackets and coats to keep warm. Even further south they would have had their heating turned on and yet for the last days before Christmas, Victoria was being burned out by bush fires. Amazing country of diversity.
Until next time, keep safe and enjoy the holidays.
