The scam I'm happy to fall for

Have you noticed how Christmas starts earlier every year? It’s November, people! November! And already the markets are open, selling ornaments shaped like tiny Santa hats and overpriced candles. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t even finished Halloween, and suddenly I’m negotiating with a stall owner over a hand-painted nutcracker.

It’s early November, which means the Christmas markets are opening, and I am already primed. My wallet? Ready. My credit card? Nervous. Me? Ecstatic. People always say, “Christmas is just a big marketing scam!” And you know what? Consider me scammed.

Hook, line, and jingle bell.

Just me enjoying my festive cup of Baileys hot chocolate at the Birmingham Christmas market in 2019

To me, it really can be a magical time of year. The Christmas lights go up in every town, making even the most deserted looking town look jolly. There’s Christmas music playing in every shop, and my boyfriend is praying they don’t play Fairytale of New York.

I love Christmas because in a season that can be dark and depressing, with moods that fluctuate faster than the stock market, Christmas is a lifeline. It’s a neon-lit “everything will be okay” sign hanging above the mayhem that is everyday life. And the markets! Oh, the markets! They’re like an amusement park for adults (at least it is for this adult), except the rides are gingerbread cookies and handmade ornaments. And yes, I will buy all the things. Every last thing. Because if the holiday season is a commercial con, then I am gleefully complicit.

You can call it consumerism. I call it essential to my mental health. Because when the nights are long, and the days are grey, the Christmas lights remind me there’s still joy to be found, if only in tinsel and hot chocolate.

So yes, I will shop until I drop. I will sip the latest special edition Bailey’s like it’s medicinal. I will hum along to Jingle Bells at an almost embarrassing volume. And I will do it all with a smile, because Christmas isn’t just a marketing scam – it’s therapy with better lighting.

And yes, I have booked a long weekend off just to go to the Christmas markets in York…