I have just returned from a meeting in Crows Nest - a local suburb that is a spiritual home for the advertising, marketing and PR industry. It is December 11 - two weeks before Christmas Day - and not a "Ho, ho, ho" to be heard or a sprig of holly to be seen.No Christmas tee.
No decorations.
Anywhere.
Oh sorry - there was one worn and tattered Christmas wreath stuck to a concrete pillar in an indoor shopping complex that is so dreary it makes Hitler's bunker look like Moulin Rouge.
Don't get me wrong - I like Crows Nest, it can be quite a pretty place on a lovely sunny day (as you can see from the photo I took this morning). But it would have been nice if just a few shops had some decorations, or the streets displayed some festive cheer.
But it's not just Crows Nest that is devoid of the colour and cheer that are matter of course in other parts of the world.
Chatswood - another major commercial centre is the same. It doesn't have a tree but it does have decorations and if you look hard enough you can see them. Of course, you can't actually make out what they are - even though they have been put up for the last seven years or so.
At least my suburb of Lane Cove is traditional. They have the same pathetic sized tree, sloping exactly the same way, adorned with the same boring decorations, every bloody year. I have photos from the last four years - and can't tell which year is which.
I am quite happy to donate a Christmas tree - provided of course, that my company name is prominently displayed and given press coverage.
If I am going to be all Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas - I want to make sure it's worth my while - why dare to be different!
More posts later in the day.
