LIKE A scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, Tamworth’s Peel St – the city’s bustling commercial heart – stood silent.
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There was no clatter of coffee drinkers in cafes, no steely-eyed shoppers scurrying for a bargain, no traffic tantrums as drivers contorted their cars for a reverse angle park.
As chaos enveloped capital city shopping centres for the traditional Boxing Day sales, Tamworth’s CBD was more like tumbleweed town.
Not even major supermarket chains like Coles and Woolies opened their doors.
The reason was simple – under NSW trading laws, only stores in Sydney’s CBD, popular tourist spots and those with special exemptions are allowed to trade on Boxing Day.
For our city cousins, Boxing Day is the annual shop-til-you-drop climax of the year, an orgy of excess where the pursuit of a bargain trumps all else.
But for us in the bush, it remains what it was intended to be – a day to spend with family and recover from the Christmas rush.
In recent years, business leaders in regional areas have intensified a push to allow a retailer “conscience vote” on Boxing Day trading.
They say shoppers should be afforded freedom of choice, arguing the rise of online shopping had put retailers at an even greater disadvantage.
But do we really need more opportunities to shop?
It appears in 2013 Australia, consumerism is God and, unlike the church, you can leave your guilt at the door.
Aussies constantly decry the fact they have less money than 10 years ago, when in fact they are simply splurging more on gadgets and designer label clothes.
Parents panic about not buying their kids enough presents when many are overlooking the greatest gift a child can be given – self-worth.
This rabid pursuit of material wealth has fuelled corporations’ profit and marketing power but made us less happy as a society.
Part of the magic of living in a regional area is we put more stock in the values that matter – family, leisure time and community connectedness.
And in the long run, that’s the best bargain you’ll ever get.