We talked probably longer than we should have, occasionally in tones that were unworthy of Christmas Eve. We realized as much and cut off the argument. She told me she was canceling her subscription, but it also sounded like she was getting everyone she knows to read our Santa editorial, so maybe we’ll get a reader or two to make up for it.
But I heard something in her voice beyond the usual Fox News talking points. She sounded seriously stressed out, like most people I know, as the Christmas hassles and expectations build toward a climax. Everyone’s a little on edge, what with the economy, the traffic, the iced-over driveways, the travel woes, the family crises, the crush at the mall.
I remembered that scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when Jimmy Stewart, upset over money problems, annoyed by little Janey’s piano practice and worried that ZuZu caught a cold on her way home, calls up Zuzu’s teacher to yell at her for letting ZuZu walk home without buttoning her coat.
I stand by all my editorials, but I felt a little like Zuzu’s schoolteacher this morning. The holidays are a hard time of the year for some people, and when bad news comes in December, it’s particularly rough. I know folks who are hurting right now, and probably you do too.
May someone like Clarence the Angel touch each of their lives this Christmas
