ON MY MIND
AS Christmas looms there are now serious concerns about the activities of Santa as a result of the Government’s hostile environment, post-Brexit border controls and visa regulations. Living in Lapland, he and his elves are European Union citizens and will not enjoy the freedom of movement experienced in previous aerial exploits and chimney hugging. The fact that he is entering into the UK for business purposes and delivering goods makes it difficult and questions will no doubt be asked about the nature of the sleigh - is it a vehicle or aircraft? There will also be more paperwork around customs checks and reindeer health certificates as well as the obligatory Covid passport.
I was never really convinced about Santa until I realised that when you stop believing you start getting clothes for Christmas and that there was not much fun being a ‘rebel without a Klaus’. Yet I did sympathise for a short while with the Grinch and how he ‘stole Christmas’ especially when the arrival of two children ensured there would never be another ‘silent night’.
In Theodor “Dr Seuss” Geisel’s wonderful children’s book with its rhymed comic verse and memorable illustrations the grumpy cave-dwelling Grinch tries to cancel Christmas in the nearby village because his heart was two sizes too small. Having stolen all the presents delivered by Santa to the villagers, he is shocked to hear them still able to stand together singing, with Christmas bells ringing, a joyous Christmas song. When he realised that perhaps Christmas meant more than just presents and feasting, his heart suddenly performed a cardiological miracle and grew three sizes larger.
With the help of flying elephants, man-eating mosquitoes and Amazon delivery drivers Dr Seuss is a children’s and parents’ favourite. He was once described as the saint who stood between a generation of exhausted parents and unexhausted children on a rainy day. He never was on a moral crusade but with the Grinch he may have eased the cardiac arrhythmia of parents at Christmas struggling with the annual ambivalence derived from the tension between consumerism and celebration.