Bah! Humbug!

There's one thing about celebrating Christmas early as I did in London this year. The pace of the crowds was good, service was good, and the mood had that needed edge of anticipation. I just came back from shopping in some old haunts in Columbia. I am exhausted. When buying soap at Stein Mart, I was in a short line, and no one behind me. The cashier took my money, handed me a bag, and said in a loud voice "Next customer please..." Summarily dismissed, I barked.."Merry Christmas and Thank You". No reaction. Wandering on to the Fresh Market, I entered in hopes of finding my favorite cheese, being La Roule, a goat cheese flown over from France. They have not had it in stock the last two visits, even though they placed a enticing picture in their Christmas Catalog. So there it was, but packaged in huge blocks, large enough for a family of 10. I asked a helper if they had smaller packages as they use to have. She referred me down the line, and the Mistress of Cheese barked, rather unpleasantly, "Well, How much do you want". She procceded to slice it in half, and gave off the air of "Her Majesty's Displeasure". I flopped it in my bag, and went back into the frey. I kept running into a nice lady with a cane, who was making rather good progress. She had watched the performance, and we got to talking in the row with the pancake mixes, which was rather busy. We discussed the downfall of simple manners, went on to settle most of the world's problems, and finished up with a conversation about the Vienna Opera, which we found we had both attended. She was from Austria, and told a charming story of getting two seats for the re-opening of the restored opera house after the II World War. Her husband had no suitable clothing, so the waiter at their hotel lent him one of his set of tails. Off they went to an historic occasion. That made me stop and think. Civil Communication is the only means of survival today. My new friend and I decided not to march on Washington, but go to our respective homes and have a cup of tea. Merry Christmas, One and All!