Christmas Special

Welcome to Bonsai – the latest of my miniature opinion pieces.

A thought or two about Christmas

It only seems like a year ago that we were celebrating Christmas, or as heathens would say, Xmas. My parents would never let me spell Christmas with an X – something about blasphemy and therefore the next time I pray for a new bike I won’t get one. As it happens, this has proven to be absolutely true – to this day no new bike has ever come rolling my way.

Anyway, once again Christmas is upon us faster than a randy reindeer and we embark on a series of social activities that culminate in stuffing our stomachs until we look like a snake that has swallowed a small child. This is of course fun. Some would say more fun than the laughing Buddha has at a Chinese banquet. However, there is a serious side to this time of year.

Aside from celebrating the birth of the big guy upstairs, the great thing about Christmas is that we get to be still. It’s the only time in this frantic age that the world kinda just stops. Sure the lead up can be busier than a Japanese beaver but on the 25th of December the planet stops spinning and stillness descends on us like silky cloud.

It’s delicious, it’s restful, it’s serene, and it lasts just one day. Before you can say “I just ate a baby” Boxing Day arrives and away we go again. Sales attract us like dogs to lampposts and it’s all over Rover.

While some of us can stretch the bliss of stillness for a week or so, spare a thought for all those poor souls who work in shops. You’ll be hard pressed to find a design professional, lawyer, or accountant over the Christmas period but it’s hard to escape the fact that for so many Christmas really does come down to one day only. The shops must go on. No golf or beach holidays for those who serve us.

Richard Alexander Bain