'Tis the Season of merry making, baking, and thoughts of gift getting and buying.
'Tis also the Season of Sneakiness.
Yes, sneakiness is an inherent part of this celebration demanding every bit as much skill and agility as special CSIS or CIA agents. What other time of year do so many have so many intentional secrets either in thought or deed?
What other time of year do husbands, wives, and children purposely hide their purchases unless they are part of the drug cartel or are in some sleazy affair either for love, money, or power?
The power of observation in the mass population has been elevated through intense exercise for at least the last six weeks. People around the world have being carefully observing, following, watching and surreptitiously quizzing their loved ones to get a sense of the perfect gift to acquire. People have planned these Christmas purchases and ultimate surprise delivery with as much care as any military operation by having the timing of the purchase arranged just right, as well as concealing said purchase, covered by then in shiny paper, ribbons, and obligatory tinsel until the perfect time of reveal somewhere between 6 pm December 24 and 8 am December 25.
Things have been and will be covered, stuffed and jammed into and underneath places that never before have seen such articles. Trunks of cars, backs of cupboards, under stairways, garage shelves, and under beds will all be precious unlikely storage areas for such things as watches, crystal, books, jewelry, chocolates, lingerie, furs, and even kittens.
Ultimately, after all this planning one also has to somehow hide the financial cost from the end of the month bank statement.
Yes , sneakiness is part of the season without a doubt.
My dad had a sense of this sneakiness when he had an especially wanted living room chair delivered on Christmas Eve by the local McLeod's furniture dealer while our family was out visiting. He also exercised this same skill when he brought in a huge and very heavy box into the house about a week before Christmas to have us, his two eldest daughters, wrap for our Mom in front of our Mom. Christmas Day proved that it was a large rock sitting on top of a Smith Corona typewriter.
Granted it seems in some cases that being sneaky and smart are neither kind or even in anyway connected when one considers the guy whose wife , after all the presents were opened and there was nothing but paper under the tree, mischievously announced with a gleam in her eye as she looked at her husband that there is another present to open. As he sat looking blank and unknowing, the wife went into the bedroom closet and after hearing a gasp, he followed her to see her holding a note that said 'Thank you for the earrings, darling." A bit of sneakiness gone awry as apparently earrings were found in the same said pocket a week prior.
This sneakiness also was also explored in our own household about 32 years ago this Christmas Season. In the days of having to get a Complete Medical Examination performed before one could apply for a Marriage License, my soon to be husband had to go to his parents' house and use their phone to make the required appointment. As he didn't want prying questions as to why an otherwise healthy and strong young man would be going to the doctor, he fake limped on his motorcycle accident knee so no questions would be asked. His concerned mother hovered over him for the next week suggesting pain killers and braces. His sore knee was much talked about at the next meeting of the Women's Institute as a neighbour lady had actually seen him limping into the doctor's waiting room.
'Tis also the Season of Sneakiness.
Yes, sneakiness is an inherent part of this celebration demanding every bit as much skill and agility as special CSIS or CIA agents. What other time of year do so many have so many intentional secrets either in thought or deed?
What other time of year do husbands, wives, and children purposely hide their purchases unless they are part of the drug cartel or are in some sleazy affair either for love, money, or power?
The power of observation in the mass population has been elevated through intense exercise for at least the last six weeks. People around the world have being carefully observing, following, watching and surreptitiously quizzing their loved ones to get a sense of the perfect gift to acquire. People have planned these Christmas purchases and ultimate surprise delivery with as much care as any military operation by having the timing of the purchase arranged just right, as well as concealing said purchase, covered by then in shiny paper, ribbons, and obligatory tinsel until the perfect time of reveal somewhere between 6 pm December 24 and 8 am December 25.
Things have been and will be covered, stuffed and jammed into and underneath places that never before have seen such articles. Trunks of cars, backs of cupboards, under stairways, garage shelves, and under beds will all be precious unlikely storage areas for such things as watches, crystal, books, jewelry, chocolates, lingerie, furs, and even kittens.
Ultimately, after all this planning one also has to somehow hide the financial cost from the end of the month bank statement.
Yes , sneakiness is part of the season without a doubt.
My dad had a sense of this sneakiness when he had an especially wanted living room chair delivered on Christmas Eve by the local McLeod's furniture dealer while our family was out visiting. He also exercised this same skill when he brought in a huge and very heavy box into the house about a week before Christmas to have us, his two eldest daughters, wrap for our Mom in front of our Mom. Christmas Day proved that it was a large rock sitting on top of a Smith Corona typewriter.
Granted it seems in some cases that being sneaky and smart are neither kind or even in anyway connected when one considers the guy whose wife , after all the presents were opened and there was nothing but paper under the tree, mischievously announced with a gleam in her eye as she looked at her husband that there is another present to open. As he sat looking blank and unknowing, the wife went into the bedroom closet and after hearing a gasp, he followed her to see her holding a note that said 'Thank you for the earrings, darling." A bit of sneakiness gone awry as apparently earrings were found in the same said pocket a week prior.
This sneakiness also was also explored in our own household about 32 years ago this Christmas Season. In the days of having to get a Complete Medical Examination performed before one could apply for a Marriage License, my soon to be husband had to go to his parents' house and use their phone to make the required appointment. As he didn't want prying questions as to why an otherwise healthy and strong young man would be going to the doctor, he fake limped on his motorcycle accident knee so no questions would be asked. His concerned mother hovered over him for the next week suggesting pain killers and braces. His sore knee was much talked about at the next meeting of the Women's Institute as a neighbour lady had actually seen him limping into the doctor's waiting room.
There was even more talk about two weeks later when the Women's Institute next met in the New Year about the confirmed bachelor who had somehow ran off with his sore knee and had gotten married over the Christmas Season.
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