High days and holidays leave holes in our wallets

IT is fascinating to see how marketers keep us spending throughout the year.

No sooner are Christmas and New Year out of the way than the shops are filled with Easter treats. Yes, we had Christmas in October and Easter in January. Wedged in between those two is Valentine’s Day, that saccharin-sweet celebration of kitsch, roses at more than R10 a stem and bank loans to pay for dinner.

Perhaps this is a jaded view of the month of love but is it not all a bit too much? Men must be viewed in a sympathetic light at this time of year because in many quarters the size and cost of the gift are direct indications of the amount of love in the heart of the giver. On Valentine’s Day men need to deliver and deliver big. If they get it wrong, life could be a tad difficult in the following weeks.

No sooner have we drawn up a payment plan for Valentine’s gifts, it’s March and March is St Patrick’s Day.

This celebration of all things Irish is not that important on the calendar of South Africans except, like Valentine’s Day, where a card through the post from a secret admirer was all that was needed to set the heart aflutter, the potential for big money may soon be exploited.

Hot on the heels of these events are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Very special occasions, but they do not require lavish gifts. A thoughtful one would be more appreciated.

Half the year is gone, our wallets are empty but don’t forget Halloween, that American tradition where children roam the streets, knocking on doors asking for tricks or treats. How could it possibly work here with our high crime rate and barricaded homes, yet some do persist.

With that out of the way the preparation for year-end begins and we start all over again.

There was a time when our high days and holy days were occasions to anticipate with some excitement. Hot cross buns were served on Easter Sunday and Easter Sunday only, along with Easter eggs.

I remember as a child discovering that the Easter eggs were hidden on the top of my mother’s wardrobe.

Every day I would secretly climb the shelves and look at the eggs with their icing flowers and silver sweets with longing. Easter Sunday was so far away, a whole five days – could I live that long – but the thought of even touching what my heart desired was never an option.

Now consumers may have hot cross buns all year round and there are marshmallow eggs at Christmas. At a large supermarket last week there were Christmas mince pies on sale still bearing festive packaging.

Either it was old (very old) stock or our festive fare and special treats have lost their status and can now be had whenever we please. How sad.

These are small things but they are telling. We live in a society of instant gratification where we wait for nothing. If we want something we want it now and waiting, saving, are things of the past.

Fly now pay later was the slogan of years gone by and was the beginning of having it all without thought for payment or social convention.

I don’t want tinsel and glitter, baubles and bells in October. I don’t want hot cross buns in January. There is no longer an order to things, the lines are blurred and there is neither excitement nor anticipation.I get it though. The longer merchandise is available, the more we buy.

If hot cross buns were only available a few weeks before Easter, sales would not be as impressive as they are when we can hot cross buns and Easter eggs in January, February, March, April …