The big two days are over. You may be back to work – or equally, off to shop.
If Britain is truly a nation of shopkeepers (and yes, I know the actual quotation is only about England), surely this should be our finest hour?
I don’t know about you, but there’s a reason I’m at home at the moment, writing this rather than fighting for bargains. And it’s not just because of online shopping.
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Christmas Past
Back in the days when sales were (yes, it’s true) only occasional, they took on almost mythic significance.
Think of this in terms of hunter gatherers. All year, it’s roots, shoots, berries, maybe some smaller animals that are easier to outrun or trap. It’s fine.
(I suspect that hunter gatherers didn’t necessarily find these even as often as I’m suggesting, but hang in here – the analogy is coming.)
One day, your scouts bring back news of a mammoth on the horizon. Possibly even a family of mammoths. Preparations begin in earnest. You lay traps. You prepare weapons. Your stomach growls, waiting for  the feast to come.
Imagine now that your tribal observers have been able to determine that the mammoths come this way when the sun is at a particular point; when frost covers this side of the tree but not the other.
Now you begin to anticipate some more; to plan some more. But maybe more clans have been tracking this too. Maybe when you show up, and the mammoths do too, you’ve got company.
Welcome to Christmas sales shopping. The chase of the rarely sighted beast; the thrill of the pack.
But sales shopping does not require the team effort that mammoth hunting does. It looks like a pack, but it’s really every shopper for themselves.
Because if they get the bargains, then maybe I don’t.
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There have been some points that I have geared up for sales shopping after Christmas.
The days when money was a lot more scarce, and Christmas present money was a way to equip the flat, bit by bit.
Department stores can be very helpful in this regard. It might be buying better quality towels that you couldn’t normally afford. Or cookware that will last well, but that makes you wince at original price per item.
There have also been times when I needed to make wardrobe purchases on the cheap. Starting office work, needing to invest in some slightly smarter clothes.
So I’m not knocking sales, as such. There are plenty of items around the house that were manageable to buy because of sales, or Christmas vouchers, or a combination of the two.
The trickier bit (the ones our brains are less experienced in) is knowing when to stop.
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Christmas Present
These days, weapons are still those of classic bargain skirmishes: sharp elbows. Moving forwards, always forwards.
Some will still arrive at very-dark-o’clock in the morning. For the big sales, some may still consider camping out overnight.
(You have to think that they must get through all the turkey and presents bit pretty fast on Christmas Day to turn around in time to head out and queue.)
But these days, sales are more like migrating animals. They appear in packs. They are with us all year round, or so it seems. Why do we feel even a hint of scarcity?
Because our hunter gatherer brain tells us that rich pickings are not to be passed up. And yes, sales can be rich pickings, if you have something particular in mind.
But you can get it online, can’t you? Even on Christmas Day, if you want to.
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I’m not great with crowds. I lack the conviction for true sales shopping. I don’t need to fight off others to get what I prize.
This year, there wasn’t a particular need to go sales shopping. Barring a certain company that makes winter socks that I like (and which I prefer not to pay full price for), we are doing OK.
We are doing more than OK. Compared with the hunter gatherers of old, we live in a time where mammoths are commonplace.
And the roots and berries are looking more and more attractive, especially after Christmas feasting.