Strange times today: we're waiting for the government to decide whether they're going to cancel Christmas.
By the time you read this of course, the decision might already have been taken. Will the three-house-five-day Christmas Bubble survive? Or will we be forced into Puritan Christmas?
The scientists are pretty clear. The Bauble Bubble is a poor idea in this winter surge of the pandemic. I expect they've done modelling of how bubbles will intersect, whether inside or outside of the rules. True enough, the numbers are soaring in the wrong direction, and at any other time of the year, it would seem madness to let people loose - the virus, as lots of people are now fond of saying - will not be taking a Christmas holiday.
My heart breaks with the idea that I won't get to see my family at Christmas. The Bubble, while restrictive, would have at least meant a few of us could be together! To wake up alone in a cold flat would not have been my choice for any Christmas morning.
That said, I also do understand. The mixing of households is so dangerous, and the urge to break the rules is so powerful. I'd rather forego one normal Christmas if it means one more next year for people. Better the empty Christmas than the empty chair.
In the 1640s, Cromwell believed that the decadence associated with Christmas was dragging everyone away from true Christianity. So he put a stop to it. There were soldiers patrolling the streets looking for hints of festivity; shops had to stay open, Christmas food was confiscated and anyone attending a mass or Christmas church service would suffer serious penalties. In fact, in some towns like Canterbury and Norwich, there were actual Christmas riots!
Banning Christmas has never been popular then. The government have a tricky decision to make, and they're probably all too aware that it's popularity-suicide to attack the most wonderful time of the year. My guess is that they'll come up with a sort of compromise. I can imagine tomorrow's newspapers if they really do burst the bauble bubble.
Well, whatever they do, there are still ways to make it shine. In Cromwell's persecution of festive fun, people still found clandestine ways to celebrate. I'm not suggesting that we should all meet for underground tinsel and turkey, but I think I am saying that the spirit of Christmas can't be defeated, whatever this pesky virus tries to do.
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