Have we run out of money yet? Financially, I mean. Sinterklaas has just been, Christmas is coming up. After that, it will be January and February. Peace and quiet again. And in the wallet. Because that will be empty by then.
Oh wait, New Year's Eve first. So, fireworks. I myself never outgrew the stage of setting off sparklers for my children, but I understand that half the city will be going wild soon. After all, it is allowed one last time throughout the Netherlands. So, this coming New Year's Eve, car trunks full of firecrackers and display fireworks will be set ablaze. With exotic titles like Oriental Mandarin, Golden Autumn, and Royal Tears in Heaven. I also find the fireworks box I come across named Sodom and Gomorrah fascinating.
I'm not going to complain about all those millions of euros literally going up in smoke in a short time. The only thing you can hope for is that the fireworks were also bought from local suppliers. 'Buy local, then we help each other,' just to dust off that slogan from the 1930s again.
Speaking of which: in the past, every year around the holidays, you would see battalions of people marching through the city center as if they were in survival training: panicked looks, clammy hands, and with full shopping bags. Because the entire family (and in-laws) came over for dinner during the holidays.
Nowadays, more and more is being ordered online. A seemingly unstoppable development. While you could have simply stepped into the local shop, where an employee with genuine human eyes would lovingly help you find what you are looking for. No digital treasure hunt with a delivery service communicating in mysterious texts like: 'Your package is almost on its way.' What does that even mean? Has it woken up? Is it stuck in traffic? Is it cold?
The strange thing remains that we all complain that the shops are disappearing. "It's getting less and less cozy in the city," we shout in unison on Facebook, while sitting on the couch with a tablet on our laps and a digital shopping cart fuller than our pantry during the pandemic.
Perhaps an early New Year's resolution: let's go more local this year, as if it were a hip new lifestyle. Buy your cheese from the cheesemonger, your candles from the gift shop, and your culinary Christmas stress from the baker and the butcher. Above all, go experience what it is like to hold something in your hands before you buy it.
And who knows, maybe you'll walk out with a bag full of stuff, but with money saved on returns, frustrations, and failed delivery attempts. And the best part: there's a good chance you even had a nice chat along the way.
RONALD DEN BOER
