Everyone has at least one of these people in their street. The type that must double their annual electricity usage in the space of 3 weeks. Flashing lights zig zag across the front of their house. A tacky image of father Christmas on a sleigh, covered in fairy lights. Flashing ones. Bushes and trees in the garden all covered in the stuff. And flashing. Always the flashing lights.

My theory on these people: As they hit adulthood, they realised that Christmas really isn’t that exciting. The frenzied anticipation of childhood has long since waned. Desperate to keep an annual element of excitement in their lives, they think that dowsing their house in tacky lights will make sure they get excited.

I wonder if it works.

To me, it is the equivalent of getting bored of your favourite song. Then, turning the volume up on it to ear splittingly high levels in a desperate attempt to inject new life into it and convince yourself you still love it.