Geoff Lawson is an avid sport and social commentator, and an optometrist, his unique perspective on our world is highly sought by sports fans, business leaders, politicians and princes alike.
February is here at last. What a relief. The holidays are over and the kids are back at school, the uni and college students are almost back in lectures, (don’t they get very long holidays!!!) and the beach is less cluttered. At last, you can do the shopping without ankle biters throwing themselves under your grocery cart.
The red ‘P’ platers are thinner on the roads between nine and four and, as drivers, we find ourselves less relaxed around school zones. “What time is it, what day is it, is this a private school, when do these kids start… and what fine did I cop last time I did 44 kph at 2.31pm?
Lazy Days
Australians have a particular view of the holiday season that seems, in part at least, to be tied up with the warm climate, daylight saving and an inherent ability to be lazy when the sun shines.
sales must be up on glare and UV reducing products! Who in the profession or industry didn’t give specs/sunnies as a present to someone in the family?
The festive season psyche starts to infiltrate the work place in early November when the weather is warming and the days are growing longer. It doesn’t finish until well beyond Valentine’s Day with the demise of daylight saving. The nation’s civilised states enjoy this phenomenon known as ‘daylight saving’. A simple concept to do with turning clock hands, this has nothing to do with when the sun actually comes up or goes down, yet to date, it has only been grasped by four of our six states. Give it time – the others may join the 21st century and save a few carbon footprints too!
Giving and Receiving
The retailers either love or rely on our schedule of holidays and gift imperatives. It keeps the nation’s shop assistants on their feet, or at least away from the TAB.
The lolly shops begin to get their cash flow in October thanks to those who celebrate Halloween, an ostensibly American festival featuring fancy dress, small children in drag and latent diabetes. Thanksgiving is growing in popularity too. Heavens knows why. Unlike the Yanks, our founding fathers were mostly from the criminal underclass, transported away from a stinking, decaying London. I suppose we should be truly thankful for the foresight of King George and the determination of Arthur Philip et al. It didn’t turn out too badly – along with the transport for the term of many natural lives came some determined and healthy DNA. Survival of the fittest, perhaps. Maybe that’s why we continually beat the Poms at all manner of sporting contests; cricket excepted in the short term.
Christmas of course is not just about the religious festival. In the multi sectarian and increasingly secular nation we are becoming, the holidays are about family and retail. Giving and receiving… always better to receive those socks, jocks and marbles from Aunty Joan who still thinks I’m 11 years old.
The big stores want you inside their doors for a good few hours. If you shop with the family in tow, that’s all the better – two birds with one stone in one store.
Bolstering the Nation
The prosperity of a nation is so often judged by the size of the Chrissy stocking and the percentage increase/ decrease in sales. Just like all the other retailers, optometrists would have checked the December sales figures and then the January returns to see if they can afford the new Prius (being an environmentally conscious group) or the trip to the Gold Coast for three extra CPE points.
January and February are so bloody sunny… sales must be up on glare and UV reducing products! Who in the profession or industry didn’t give specs/sunnies as a present to someone in the family? A ‘buy one get one free’ tonometry voucher doesn’t count as a Christmas present!
Come the start of February we are just about over Christmas, there has been an unnoticed and unwanted increase on the waistline, a noticed but apathetic decrease in exercise. The lethargy must be exorcised. It is time to get back to the steady daily routine of work. Making a quid, doing our duty, working hard toward the next holidays so we don’t feel guilty about not doing much at all , except make a contribution to the nation’ sales figures.
The perpetual cycle of life down-under.
