What Christmas Trend you wish would go away?

Postgrad10

Despise Kris Kringle. I wouldn’t mind if I actually knew the person. I just started a new job in recent weeks , I was given the option to opt out. Gladly took it.

L1011

Heroditas wrote: »

The Christmas Eve Box is German apparently and only started here a few years ago. Seems a silly reason to shoehorn more stuff into an already packed Christmas when it comes to presents. Christmas Day is the Irish tradition, let's leave it at that.

Christmas Eve is traditional for exchanging family presents (with the "santa" ones on Christmas Day) if you're Protestant / Upper Class in Ireland though

If you had BBC1 on 1 on your analogue TV and keep your toaster in the cupboard you probably do it on Christmas Eve

iamwhoiam

Heroditas wrote: »

I like Kris Kindle/Kris Kringle (bloody Americanisation)/Secret Santa for larger families or workplaces. It's good fun in work and relieves the pressure of multiple gifts when it comes to larger families. It's something we should embrace if we're trying to rail as a society against consumerism.

The Christmas Eve Box is German apparently and only started here a few years ago. Seems a silly reason to shoehorn more stuff into an already packed Christmas when it comes to presents. Christmas Day is the Irish tradition, let's leave it at that. Else we'll be ending up in a few years giving out presents on Little Christmas too!!

The Christmas eve presents is a tradition in Germany , The Krist Kindl brought presents on the 24th . But then they don’t get more presents on the 25th

Neyite

Kris Kringle is a godsend for big families though!

Cienciano

Acosta wrote: »

It starting after Halloween

blueshade wrote: »

Most shops are putting the Christmas stuff out on the Halloween shelves by lunchtime on Halloween. Basically, as soon as the kids go back to school in September the tins of sweets and biscuits appear and it goes into overdrive from there. I think as you get older the fact that it's drawn out for so long just starts to grate on the nerves.

This isn't new, I knew lads who worked in shops in the 90s and they said on Halloween night they put the Christmas stock out

Caranica

Cienciano wrote: »

This isn't new, I knew lads who worked in shops in the 90s and they said on Halloween night they put the Christmas stock out

In the early noughties it used to appear the August bank holiday weekend. I always did a course around then and would come back to Christmas in Liffey valley. I'm not sure Halloween was quite so big back then though

Heroditas

L1011 wrote: »

Christmas Eve is traditional for exchanging family presents (with the "santa" ones on Christmas Day) if you're Protestant / Upper Class in Ireland though

If you had BBC1 on 1 on your analogue TV and keep your toaster in the cupboard you probably do it on Christmas Eve

Highly dependent upon how you pronounce scones too!

whisky_galore

Christmas jumpers.

And related to the above, the 12 pubs crowd.
Always know when 12 pubs gob****es leave, the volume levels in the pub have dropped considerably.

jr86

In fairness a good few places outright ban 12 pubs

I guess if a group of around 10 were to come in that's a quick 60 odd quid to places and they probably find that hard to turn down. If you got even 5 groups a night, spread over 10 different nights in December for example, that's 3 grand in the pocket on 12 pubs alone. Cover someone's wages for the month and a nice bonus on top if needs be. Plenty come in groups of 20 or more and that's even more $$$

Its probably not worth the hassle for others either. Refuse the wrong group and you could quickly get a discrimination charge thrown at you for example, or some bad publicity online

That said I'd be all for banning it myself - but easy to say from my computer screen I guess. A few lads/women who are clearly sober, dressed normally I'd have no problem, but big groups (and not to be ageist but especially late teens/early 20s), rowdy, dressed in fancy Christmas get-up and you're asking for trouble. It just wouldn't be worth it if they drive regular clientele out the door.

I don't envy pub owners this time of the year to be fair. Must be hard to get the balance right, Christmas could potentially keep you going for the full year if you can grin and bear pumping Mariah carey on full blast 5 times a night, and have fads like Christmas Jumper themed nights etc. Like it or not these are magnets for big crowds, especially younger.

JustMe,K

I'm not on board with doing away with Secret Santa or KK or whatever you want to call it. Find it really helpful with the adult family member gifts to only have one person to focus on

CheerLouth

I think it's great provided you keep the price reasonable. My friend's in laws do it every year but they set the budget at over 100 euro which is crazy in my opinion! She just goes along with it to keep the peace but I'd be going mental. And they do one for the kids too and I think the budget for that is 50 euro. Maybe I'm just mean, I just think that is very steep. For herself and her husband to buy four gifts, they've shelled out 300euro.

L1011

12 Pubs is dead I thought? Didn't see anyone doing it last year.

JustMe,K

L1011 wrote: »

12 Pubs is dead I thought? Didn't see anyone doing it last year.

There is also the Baggot Mile, and probably other local equivalents!

whisky_galore

L1011 wrote: »

12 Pubs is dead I thought? Didn't see anyone doing it last year.

Nope, last time I was in a smallish pub, about 8 or 10 burst in the door looking "hilarious" in their stupid jumpers. Bought drinks, shouted at each other for 20 mins and broke a glass.

Everyone smiled and breathed a sigh of relief when they left to repeat the exercise somewhere else.

aidyhawse

The Next Boxing Day Sale starting at ridiculous o'clock. Totally unfair on staff to have to be in work that early on Boxing Day (nevermind in at all) after the mad rush before Christmas.

jr86

L1011 wrote: »

12 Pubs is dead I thought? Didn't see anyone doing it last year.

Na, but its definitely more younger crowds doing it these days I notice

very popular for students at end of exams and stuff. I've seen plenty of classes of 30 or so - and all dressed up - doing it. Imagine having to put up with that in your pub

While older groups may do variations on it, I find its more just a typical pub crawl really and in smaller groups - where they tend to settle in a place for a while if they enjoy it, and aren't adhering to "rules" and so on

CrankyHaus

aidyhawse wrote: »

The Next Boxing Day Sale starting at ridiculous o'clock. Totally unfair on staff to have to be in work that early on Boxing Day (nevermind in at all) after the mad rush before Christmas.

The trend that must die is calling St Stephen's Day Boxing Day : Phwoar, let's be aving you, you diamond geezer!

GooglePlus

12 pubs of Christmas.

I don't know why people can't have 12 pints in 1 pub.

Princess Calla

aidyhawse wrote: »

The Next Boxing Day Sale starting at ridiculous o'clock. Totally unfair on staff to have to be in work that early on Boxing Day (nevermind in at all) after the mad rush before Christmas.

Just playing devils advocate here

Also just picking this post as it's the most recent on the topic

There appears to be an awful lot of outrage for retail outlets opening up so soon after Christmas day. How it's unfair to staff and their families etc

However there's no mention about pub opening times and how unfair it is on barmen / lounge staff and their families.

Maybe retail consumerism is of less importance than the entertainment industry.

Though I wonder what over indulgence on the above industries has the biggest negative impact on the family unit.

jr86

A lot of pubs actually close Stephens' Day and also on/off in the days between Christmas and new Years. I know a few that even close New Years

Christmas Eve most pubs would be closed up early and will only have the bare minimum of staff working

Princess Calla

There's also pubs that open for their "regulars " on Christmas day, similar to a lock in.

SusieBlue

I worked many a Christmas in the hospitality industry, notably in pubs/clubs.
Annual leave was forbidden for the whole month of December. We worked on a full staff roster on Christmas Eve, St. Stephen's Day & New Years Eve. I worked all 3 of those nights annually for about 6 years for no extra pay.
Christmas Eve in particular was off the chain busy, it was always a mininum of a 12hr shift that day. We would stop serving at midnight but by the time we got the place cleared, cleaned and prepped for the 26th it would be 4/5am by the time we finished.

I used to be so exhausted on Christmas Day I'd feel hungover. It made enjoying the day hard because the madness of the 26th loomed even closer.
I've worked Christmas in retail and don't get me wrong, dealing with horrible impatient customers is awful. But it doesn't compare to having to deal with those same nasty people, with the added delight of them being drunk and abusive to boot :pac:
I'd pick retail over hospitality any day. I dread the day we ever open our pubs on the 25th, I hope it never comes.

freshpopcorn

All this stuff about having a Green Christmas!

Beechwoodspark

12 pubs of Christmas

Had 2 bad experiences with it over the last few years.

One myself and one the other half

I more or less poisoned myself doing it with work in 2015. Drank unknown quantities of spirits and shots like a fool. Singing Sinatra til stupid o clock in the morning.

The following day we had a packed schedule including attending a school concert and dinner for the in laws.

Never again.

It’s so not worth it especially if you have little elves to mind the following day.

I’ll never forget the fear seeing my better half arrive home in a taxi sobbing, semi conscious and incoherent after her work Christmas party.

I’m still very angry that her employer subjected her to that. (A well known bank institution). She has no memory whatsoever of huge parts of the night (blackouts) and had to rely on a teetotaler friend to “fill in the blanks” but apparently there was a lot of pressure on to drink drink drink.

To add to it there was a marquee set up pre the 12 pubs which was held in a stupid location beside the river liffey with no guard rails etc. absolutely fuming still thinking of it.

No clear pathways through the field to the marquee and Very little lighting around the area which would be most unfamiliar to the attendees.

The organizers obviously had no regard for Health and safety.

And as for me ferrying the other half so she could be traipsing around the packed pubs trying to find her jacket, handbag, phone, the following day was such great fun.....NOT

Horrendous.

L1011

jr86 wrote: »

A lot of pubs actually close Stephens' Day and also on/off in the days between Christmas and new Years. I know a few that even close New Years

Christmas Eve most pubs would be closed up early and will only have the bare minimum of staff working

Christmas Eve pub volumes are very much down to where you are. There are very few open past about 4pm in Dublin City Centre but many suburban ones are packed until 2330.

There's a student peak days only pub in my area which I doubt will be open but the others all will be and busy enough.