And the point of Christmas is?

Christmas is a time for reflection, expressing compassion and love towards our fellow beings, being kind, thoughtful and caring.

Yeah, right, clearly not in the town I live in!

The festive period has become so disgustingly commercial these days with retail giants generating a false pressure on every living soul to deliver the biggest, the best, and the most desirable - the latter also being false and manufactured - so that they can whip up a positively repulsive activity that is known as the pre-Christmas sale.

I find the fear of disappointing a friend or loved one by not delivering the perfect present on the big

day, really quite concerning.

A simple phone call on Christmas day from someone I love would mean the world to me. The thought of them being pushed and elbowed in a retail jungle, close to tears because they can't find me something that I 'would absolutely adore' quite frankly sickens me.

I couldn't wait to get back to my desk this lunchtime. I popped in to the town centre to pick up a Christmas card for my partner (we don't buy each other presents by the way, just being together for the Christmas break is enough) and had to plough my way through a torrent of stressed, rude and even angry people. I'm not sure I even saw anyone smiling.

Heavens above, it's Christmas! And even if you're not religious or a Christian (I’m neither), it should be a beautiful time of year when we can, even if it's just for one day, express a little love. Good grief, I'm nearly crying writing this!

It's excruciating watching people putting themselves through this absurd pursuit. What is the western world turning in to when we're afraid of giving a token gift to say 'I'm thinking of you this Christmas and by the way, I love you', in case the recipient thinks it was cheap or not the model they wanted?

I utterly refuse to be influenced by marketing hype at Christmas. If I see a little gift that I can give someone to show them that I'm thankful that they're there, I buy it and the smile I receive is the only gift I want in return.

Please, let's not let this situation become worse, because I'm fearful about how it will all end.

Merry Christmas, with love

Dean