Present tense

i WAS going to buy some Christmas presents, but then i thought that if the recipients really wanted the gift, they would have got it for themselves. So i would be wasting my money by buying something they do not want and placing them under an obligation to get me something in return.

And if i buy someone a gift they want, but can’t afford, i am placing them under an obligation to reciprocate with a gift of equivalent value that they can’t afford.

Such a logical Christmas would be very far from merry! PETER COUCH, Plymouth, Devon.