So here we are in a New Year and I am looking at a few newspapers. The broadsheets and the tabloids. I have been watching the news and listening to the radio and checking out the internet and I have seen some amazing stats.
36m mobile phones sold. £3.5 BILLION taken in Oxford Street over the Christmas shopping period. The average spend per person at Christmas was £85. (Which means if someone spent less than that on you tell him or her to take a hike!) There was more money spent over the bar on alcohol than any other Christmas season. More Champagne was sold this year. More Holidays were given as Christmas presents than any year before. More people ate out at Christmas than any year before. More people had a catered Christmas or just had their Christmas Dinner at a restaurant than ever before. More money was taken at the sales than ever before. The queues were longer than any other year.
As I was reading all of this a couple of words kept popping into my head. I don’t know whether these stats are real or just hype but even if the figures are half of those listed the same two words keep popping in my head. As I walked around the streets of London buying presents I saw lots of people laden down with bags. The restaurants were full. The champagne bar was three deep in Selfridges. The food hall in Selfridges was packed to the rafters. You would need a shoehorn to get in. There was a queue for the changing rooms in all the major stores. Those two words came back into my head. The theatres were packed with people buying tickets for West End shows at £65 plus per time as presents. Those two words? Wait…there isn\’t a cab around. They are all full. Every cab driving by has a passenger. The tubes are packed. The streets are packed. Everywhere is packed and people are spending money like no tomorrow.
\”Cab!\” Great, he saw me. \”Where to Guv?\” \”Monument, please.\” I said as I got in and closed the door with a satisfying clunk. I am now in the back of the cab. Outside there are thousands of people with millions of carrier bags going in billions of directions. Billions of pounds being spent. What were those two words again…? \”Done all your shopping?\” the driver asked me. \”I think so,\” I replied, \”It\’s a nightmare out there.\” \”Yeah…\” he laughed, \”Credit Crunch!?!?\” Oh yeah, those were the two words…what happened to that?