Hoorah For Boxing Day!

I play 2 games called Words With Friends and Scramble on my phone. Apart from the games themselves, the best thing about playing them is that I get to 'virtually meet' the people that play them. 

I've had chats with 2 women in the US - one of whom emails me photos of the raccoons and possums that come on to her porch at night, I'm now friends on Facebook with another woman from South Africa, and last night I started playing a woman from Rhode Island. Whenever you ask the game to find you an equally-matched opponent the person it finds always seems to be female. I'm not sure if it does this on purpose, or whether (as I'm guessing) it's mostly women that play these games.

Anyway, the Words With Friends possum lady asked me what I was doing for Christmas and I said I had a friend arriving on Boxing Day - and she didn't know what it was. She said she hadn't heard of it but she wasn't a big fan of boxing! I'd forgotten that it's only Commonwealth countries that have it so I went online to try and find a way of explaining it to her.

The Internet's explanation of Boxing Day:

The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear. There are several competing theories, none of which is definitive.The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era, wherein metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen which in the Western Church falls on the same day as Boxing Day.

In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year.This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys' diary entry for 19 December 1663. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.

Noun (in parts of the British Commonwealth) A public holiday celebrated on the first day (strictly, the first weekday) after Christmas Day.

My explanation of Boxing Day:

It's a day where people either:

1. Go mad in the sales running around like they're possessed having greedily sat outside Next in the damp and cold since midnight. The sales used to start on Boxing Day and now they start 2 days before Christmas. It's a disgusting travesty
2. Try to navigate the sales crowds so they can exchange unwanted gifts for something that fits or that they would prefer instead. Bickering and stress traditionally accompany points one and two
3. Visit (or have visiting them) family members they couldn't see on Christmas Day. This includes (but is not solely limited to) their in-laws, their divorced parent and his or her new family, the kids they did or didn't lose in the divorce, their grandparents, and sometimes friends. The day is usually spend sitting in slow-moving traffic then opening more presents, politely eating mince pies, and explaining what you did the day before
4. Go fox hunting if they are posh, upper class c***ts 
5. Sit in a chair at home alternating between snoozing, playing with gifts, watching rubbish telly, and eating Christmas dinner leftovers and chocolates. This is my favourite way to spend Boxing Day

Boxing Day is kinda brilliant. Because it's a public holiday, it lengthens Christmas so that most people don't return to work until the 2nd or 3rd of Jan (and I imagine work won't begin in earnest until the 7th this year) It doesn't particularly have pressure or expectations attached to it either - there's no important dinner to cook and most presents have been exchanged so you can sit and fiddle with new gadgets or read books without being accused of being anti-social.

I love Boxing Day!