A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
WtELL, Christmas is over, and we have leisure to cast up he follies committed in its name. High on the list must come the despatch of Christmas cards, for surely of all the foolish practices pursued by foolish mortals this is among the most foolish. I say that subject to one reservation. In the case of friends who see each other seldom and rarely correspond a Christmas card is a useful and appropriate indication that the recipient is in the sender's thoughts, and warmly remembered. Long may such tokens continue. But between people who see each other every week, or write to each other regularly, the exchange of cards adds nothing. Yet, as slavery to a rather stupid convention—and because the other person has sent a card, or is sure to—the process continues, and I suppose always will. Much the same applies to presents. Presents for children certainly, and for people in straitened circumstances whom they will really benefit. For the rest—if only to avoid the distress of not having sent X (for whom we have no affection) as expensive a present as X has sent us—I commend the example of a small circle who used to send each other nothing more costly than Penguins. Scroogishness ? Not at all. Just common sense.
Previous page
