Sale time? It's dog eat dog out there

I am loving all the discounts on offer at the moment. On Thursday I braved Marks and Spencer's one day sale. With 20% off all clothing and Christmas gifts it was too good an opportunity to miss. The Preston store has only been refurbished earlier this year and it looks fantastic. It was a perfect opportunity to do most of my Christmas shopping and it seemed I wasn't the only one with the same idea. People had hundreds of pounds worth of clothes and Christmas gifts piled high in their shopping trolleys.

What I find fascinating with sales is how women's behaviour completely transforms. Sale time makes shopping a serious and dangerous venture. Gone are the polite, civilised ladies. They turn into savage rottweilers. Prepare to be pushed out of the way, jostled, elbowed and rammed in the ankles by shopping trolleys. Shops become an obstacle course. Negotiating around seemingly oblivious shoppers blocking every aisle and exit becomes impossible. They are masters in the art of standing in such a way that you cant get round them or reach the items that you want. Politely asking them to move falls on deaf ears. God help you if you pick up the last bargain cashmere jumper in a size medium and you are confronted by a nostril flaring, red faced middle aged women who claims that its hers.

It is the middle aged women who are the worst culprits. They have had decades of fine tuning their ruthlessness in order to get the best bargains. I am yet to find a man who loves fighting his way through the crowd to sift through reams of crumpled clothes which have been ripped off the hanger and thrown on the floor.

Most men I saw in M&S fell into one of two categories. The first had a glazed look of boredom etched on their face. This 'vacant' look is a telling sign that the men are in their own little world, thinking about anything but the uncomfortable situation they are in. The second are the angry men who stand huffing and puffing, veins throbbing in their temple as their wives or girlfriends amble through the aisles oblivious to their pain. These are the ones who have been dragged along specifically for their credit cards. So they have the double whammy of being in the last place they want to be as well as costing them a small fortune.

I believe Debenhams has 25% off its clothing at the moment so I may go and have a browse with boyfriend in tow. (He falls into the first "vacant look" category). I think it will do him good and I am not bothered if he is bored, I like the company. After all I am a rottweiler in training.....