Mysteries of the Universe Dept.

I understand why the department stores are crowded.  People, such as your servant, who wouldn't ordinarily set foot in a mall or any of its attendant emporia, go there before the holidays to buy the required Christmas presents and after the holidays to return the same.

But why are the grocery stores crowded?  Sure, one has to buy the turkey and the mince pie and so forth.  But that's just instead of the lamb chops that were purchased the week before and the chicken the week before that and so on.   One has to eat whether or not it's a holiday.  So why are there more people in the market during the holidays?  Is there a large section of the population that only eats on holidays?  Are millions of my fellow citizens being fed only intravenously if it's not Christmas or Easter or the 4th of July?  It doesn't seem likely.  But one does wonder.