Generations of Skilled Cowards,

I feel sorry for the employees of Woolworths, Zavvi and other companies about to disappear from our high streets, but in many cases, they are simply the helpless pawns of their superiors’ lack of foresight. The chain stores that meet their demise first will be those that deserve to: I can’t think of a reason why I would visit Woolworths, they just don’t better any other store at the areas in which they believe they specialise – as a general store, supermarkets can now beat them, as a audio/visual stockist, they are limited, as a hardware store, they can be bettered by DIY superstores; they are left to win the pick & mix competition and even this is extortionate.

My hope is independent specialist retailers make a return to the high streets, small stores that can live within their means might be more stable than the national chains that dominate but fail to truly satisfy the customer because they never truly specialise, they never offer a real choice and their salespeople do not really have a passion for the product.

I have no enthusiasm for Christmas, I just don’t know what it means. We all have a day off work at the same time. We spend it together, I try not to complain. I’ve not had much to complain about but at this time, more than at other times of year, there seems to be a rivalry between my parents over whose side of the family is most hospitable. They’re actually remarkably similar, I don’t get drawn but it’s difficult as we head into the second day, Boxing Day, of the conflict.