In Which My New-Found Enthusiasm for Christmas Experiences a Setback

Every year, the same old scene.
It's distribution day: every employee of the Firm (plus dog, plus baby, as the case may be...) goes to the big warehouse clutching his or her "bon" (token) and collects the Christmas gift they've selected from the catalogue.
Sounds nice, yes?
No. Santa's little depot this is not.

Every year, the same old rotten atmosphere that makes me seethe.
Pushing, shoving, annoyance, high tension... people clutching large boxes of Japanese electrical appliances and stacking them greedily into their car boots.
And what always amazes me is: everyone is guaranteed to get a gift! It's not as though there's a limited number, or even that it's a first come, first served situation... No, this is not a soup kitchen for the homeless, yet all these well-fed, well-off people suddenly act like their future happiness depends on getting this one free gift as quickly as they can.

I'm sorry, but I find it kind of depressing.
Not depressing enough to renounce my own gift altogether and stop going, sure, but it may actually come to that one day.
This year, at 3 p.m. (why was nobody actually at work?? Why were half the employees of the Firm completely free to go gift collecting in mid-afternoon??), I had to endure a shove in the ribs and a couple of knocks to LB's pram in order to walk away with my new telephone and a box of Lego.

Sure, it's worth it. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth (this is a very idiomatic expression: French friends will need a specialist dictionary...).
But each year I walk away thinking that yes, this truly is the Christmas spirit at its very worst...

PS. Yes, it's snowing in Toulouse. That annual day of "life is at a complete and utter standstill" is upon us. Canadian friends, feel free to smile smugly.