Christmas 2009

For some, holidays are holy days. For others, holidays are time for feasts, or family or falling asleep. To me they're a time for work, to get ahead on bills, make some jink.

Christmas Day 2009 saw me driving a regular customer and his wife to her sister's place about an hour south of here. I did the same thing a couple of years ago, and it's interesting to note the differences.

That time, he was quite grumpy about going. He could have been in a bad mood, but the dynamic was that he was pissed off with the wife, and didn't want to talk. In my experience of these folks, he generally wants nothing but to be left alone with his book anyway, notwithstanding any marital tension.

This Christmas she had obviously presented him an iPod. He sat back there, ear-buds in, fiddling with it while she gave him verbal instructions, quietly at first, but then louder when she failed to get through over the music. Funny how rich older folks end up in the same position as children when presented with the new. That's not meant as a criticism. Childlike is fine as far as I'm concerned, implying discovery of the new. Childish, though, is quite another thing.

Small comments are telling. As they stepped out, he said to me to be back at 4:00 pm, ready for the trip home. She said, sotto voce, words to the effect that he loves his brother-in-law....for the first two hours. Funny, really. Families are the same everywhere.





Photo by me.

Also published here. [link]