What can be learned from three Christmas cards?

Abdulkader Thomas
2 min readJan 9, 2022
We love scouting, but politics…ugh!

Just before Christmas 2020, we moved to England from Kuwait. As a non-Christians, we weren’t expecting any Christmas cards. In addition to that, England is one of those places where people take time to warm to outsiders. 2020 Christmas card tally — zero.

This year, we received three cards. Here is what I think that they mean:

Card №1 is a cute corgi sitting in front of presents. Our neighbor gave it to us. My wife and I have been exchanging baked goods and curries with them. I think the card means that we are slowly being accepted into our neighborhood.

Card. №2 is from my milk man. My wife and I decided to support local organic dairies and pay a little extra for home delivery. Friendly service delivered by a pleasant delivery person. The message was timeless and well received: A tip followed later.

Card №3 is absolutely the weirdest Christmas card that either of us have ever seen. A political campaign for a very local issue delivered a card to everyone in our neighborhood. The opposing party’s councillors heads are hung like Christmas tree ornaments. The card launches a complaint against one of their policies.

Card 1 made us really happy. They know that we don’t celebrate, but they shared with us. Card 2 is pretty old fashioned. I don’t mind it. Our delivery man deserves a tip. He leaves the dairy in the early morning, no matter how bad the weather, trust me — the weather in Western England is almost always bad, and he delivers on time.

But, Card 3 confuses me. Of all the times of the year, isn’t this exactly the time that one sends a nasty political message. Shouldn’t the opposition take opportunity simply to share best wishes for the season? They didn’t. So we are sure that others will join us in thinking of them as very small minded people. Possibly not fit to be councillors?

What do you think?

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Abdulkader Thomas

Raised in Southern Ohio to become a globe trotter,…