I was walking through town the other day, humming the tune from the Little Drummer Boy and ticking off in my head the exciting list of things I had to do for Christmas, when I ran into Tom, Dick, and Mary Scrooge. 鈥淭his could be a sour note in a merry day,鈥� I thought, but stopped to say hello anyway because, after all, it is Christmas.
鈥淗ello,鈥� I said, 鈥渁nd merry Christmas!鈥�
鈥淚 hate Christmas,鈥� they said, as I had expected.
鈥淗ow too bad,鈥� I sympathized. 鈥淚 love Christmas.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 so over-commercialized,鈥� they whined in their tiresome clich茅s. 鈥淚 hate muzak Christmas carols and all the Santa Clauses that say, 鈥楤uy, buy, buy,鈥� 鈥� plastic wreaths, plastic bells, plastic toys. I hate the mall 鈥� it鈥檚 so crowded. It鈥檚 so expensive. I hate the obligation of buying present,鈥� and they told me a story they had read in the paper about a Japanese visitor to America who said he couldn鈥檛 understand this month-long celebration of shopping.
I didn鈥檛 really want to argue (let them be happy in their misery, I thought), but it is the season of helping those less fortunate than ourselves, which they are, so I tried.
鈥淪tay out of the malls,鈥� I suggested. 鈥淒on鈥檛 buy gifts.鈥�
鈥淵eah?鈥� they sneered. 鈥淎nd not give anybody anything? We can鈥檛 do that.鈥�
鈥淵ou could if you wanted to,鈥� I pointed out, 鈥渂ut what I meant was to make gifts instead of buying them.鈥�
Tom, Dick, and Mary Scrooge gave a short merriless laugh. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know how to make anything,鈥� they objected, and I said, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to make hammocks until I decided to give them for Christmas one year. Or try reading books on tapes. That鈥檚 hardly a crafts skill. All you need is a little imagination. It鈥檚 ever so much more fun to make gifts than to buy them 鈥� and it costs less, too, but the best thing is that while you鈥檙e making things, you鈥檙e thinking about the particular person that particular present is for, and so good love gets sewn or hammered into each project.鈥�
Tom, Dick, and Mary said something that sounded like a snorted 鈥淗mph鈥� but could have been a thoughtful, 鈥淗mm,鈥� and I said, a little lamely, that wrapping their own presents might do a little of the same thing. They said they weren鈥檛 religious, anyway, so why should they do anything for Christmas?
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 such a good excuse!鈥� I said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an excuse to give presents to people you love and an excuse to make good things to eat and visit family and be in touch with friends and have a good time. Good God, man,鈥� I said, losing patience. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an excuse to be joyful!鈥�
Tom, Dick, and Mary Scrooge looked at me with apathetic astonishment. 鈥淛oyful?鈥� They repeated. 鈥淲hy?鈥�
鈥淲ell, because,鈥� I began in exasperation, thinking I鈥檇 say, 鈥渂ecause without an excuse for joy we might forget to include it,鈥� but then I gave up all the logical arguments because, after all, the answer was everywhere around them, anyway, if they would only see it.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 so much fun,鈥� I said at last. 鈥淗ere, have some cookies. I made them just this morning.鈥�
