Doesn't make me feel a bit less guilty though . . .Thing is, a few years ago I had a sudden thought. Since I don't believe in Christianity, it's ridiculous to send 'Christ-Mass' cards, isn't it? Hypocritical even. So I don't.
The problem is I still get them from other people. I was brought up in the north of England, in a sort of old-fashioned way, you see, and that, combined with that bit of Italianity I've mentioned before, makes me feel really embarrassed over receiving anything (even just a piece of card with a picture on it folded in two) without giving something back in return.
Still, I'm sticking with it. Even if it means that the guilt ends up with me doing things, or buying things for friends later as a kind of recompense. Problem with that is that often they don't realise that's what I'm doing and I've got a bit of a reputation for being a generous sort of boy. Which I can't really afford to be . . .
There's another thing about Xmas that I've come to really dislike, because it's symptomatic of something about the English that puts me on edge. The (very) Middle-Class guy who married a friend of mine spends hours about two weeks before Christmas composing a kind of short diary of what's been happening over the previous year which goes on all the Christmas cards he sends.
And others send him the same kind of thing. I pissed him off once by innocently asking why. I mean, why should people send each other a history of events, like we had a holiday in Skegness, it rained, and the dog got run over, so next year we're going to Palermo instead? Why, when you're telling someone that though you never utter a word or communicate at all the rest of the year? Weird thing to do, I still think.
Umm. I wonder what he would say if I renounced my principles and sent him a Christmas card with the URL of this blog on it . . .
(For the first time in years I'm actually spending Christmas and New Year at home in London with some friends instead of abroad. And I've been pestered into cooking Christmas dinner, complete with Turkey. I'm refusing to stuff it though. Well, I wouldn't anyway, but you know what I mean. I hate that minced pork and sage and onion stuff. I wanted to an oyster stuffing, but they're ridiculously expensive here, so it'll have to be chestnuts and celery and walnuts instead . . .Oh god, it's going to be hell, 'cos I've got to do my real home-made Italian ice cream and stuff as well, they want that . . .fine by me despite the effort, if it means I can get out of eating more than a spoonful of Christmas pudding . . .)
Have a very merry XXXmas . . . .
