The Spirit of Christmas in London and Thousands of Drunk Santas

I've noticed that they do Christmas a lot harder in London than we do in the US. Whether someone says "merry christmas"or "happy holidays" to you in the United States is a political statement. Here though, everyone says merry christmas, I feel like a dweeb reflexively saying happy holidays. I hear at least twice the amount of annoying christmas music than what I'm usually exposed to back home. This struck me as a little odd given that the UK is a much more secular society than the US, and that London in particular is more religiously diverse than Kalamazoo. Then I saw something that snapped all the pieces together.

At about 1 in the afternoon, I saw thousands of young men and women dressed as santa, playing drums, singing, and drinking prodigiously. They loudly proclaimed "merry christmas" and passed out candies as they walked by. I got two chocolate coins, two hard candies, and a sucker! One of the popular chants was "what do we want?" - "Christmas!" - "When do we want it?" - "Now!" People brought out their kids in strollers to watch, and the santas staggered over to put candy into the tikes' hands accompanied by a slurred ho-ho-ho, all of this viewed with approval by the parents. 

Apparently I had witnessed santacon, a world wide phenomena that's been becoming more popular in the internet age of flash mobs. Most everyone I saw seemed amused, except for a few drivers who were unhappy about all the people staggering across the street when the light was green. No one complained about a bunch of santas walking around drunk though - that's what Christmas is about in the UK! Good cheer, free candy, and fancy dress, what's not to like? I think public Christmas displays have become so secular in the UK that outside of homes and churches, Christmas does not have a primarily religious association. 

Make of that what you will, but merry Christmas!