Madness has taken hold

It is only the first week of December and already the festive hype has taken over – and there are still 23 more days before the year ends.

All-night drinking sessions have begun, spinning of cars and already the expensive whiskies are on the table ... every day is New Year’s Eve.

Even DStv is making adverts of husbands who want to abscond from home responsibilities for the December festivities.

The madness has begun.

While we can all be excited that it is the end of what has been a long and very exhausting year – politically, socially and economically – what is the point in ending the year in a frivolous manner that leaves one dreading January, livers battling to recover and relationships destroyed?

I must admit, I hate the stupidity that accompanies December. I can best describe it as “switch off your thinking cap time”.

You see, what will happen is this, among other things:

Husbands will do as little as possible in the home, wives will be buying the longest weaves, teenagers will be drinking anything and everything they can get their hands on, some of them unsure how they fared in school because results are only released in January.

Then, come January, and school uniforms, stationery and groceries must be bought. Life must move past the Christmas lights and December fireworks but the ATM just won’t cooperate because the balance is in the red.

I’m already exhausted by all the festivities. I am in my 30s, I have lived through 30-odd Decembers and yet I still see people acting as though this is the first December they are experiencing.

With such reckless behaviour, I would not be surprised if, for some, it was the last. Expensive and unaffordable commodities will be bought, most of which will be unnecessary.

This is the season of great profit for the retailers, who are ready for it. But are the consumers ready for the responsibilities of January?

Most businesses close on December 15. Could we not wait until then to start the festivities? officially