h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The most successful and enjoyable Christmas shopping trip I've ever had was a couple of years ago. 'Twas the weekend before Christmas, and we'd decided to go to the Trafford Centre (a huge cathedral of consumerism on the outskirts of Manchester, in the north west UK). The weather had closed in to the point that we were driving towards the city on a motorway with three lanes and a speed limit of 70mph, and we were doing about 20mph on the only usable lane and nobody was hassling us.

We thought a couple of times about turning back, but we were adequately provisioned and it wasn't *that* bad...

When we arrived, the centre, which we had anticipated being a shoulder-to-shoulder nightmare scrum of seething humanity, looked like something from a post-apocalyptic movie - empty. Lights on, music playing, escalators working, just... nobody there.

It was GREAT. We moved calmly and easily from shop to shop. Every shop we went in was fully stocked, over-staffed, and with no queues at the checkout. When we stopped for food and drink it was served very quickly. The entire experience was brilliant. I doubt I shall ever enjoy going to that place as much ever again, unless there's some sort of pandemic that wipes out the Kappa-slappers who usually pollute the place 24/7.

So... shop during a blizzard, in a country where half an inch of snow makes everyone think there's a national emergency going on. It makes sense.