‘Isn’t it marvellous that the Royal Family only give each other one small gift?” said my friend the other day, before adding: “So classy.”
Meanwhile, another friend posted on Facebook that he and his partner no longer “do” cards, and instead purchase a hamper which is given to a dog “who is all alone at Battersea Dogs Home on Christmas Day”. He included a link and exhorted his friends to do the same.
I know I should congratulate him, or possibly order a dog hamper. But something tells me that in the backlash against conventional gift-giving, and in our seeming philanthropy in this post-gift era, we’re losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas yet again.
