" Oh My God, I RUINED CHRISTMAS!!! "

I tend to do a lot of favors. I do these good deeds to tip the balance back to good. I feel no matter how small that these favors are worth the effort...even if the effort is laughable.

This year and like every year my good friend Dave coordinates the drawing of names for a gift exchange with his family members. And like last year I assisted in notifying the lucky family member who they were buying a gift for this Christmas. This year it was to be conducted via email with me pulling out of a large envelope each of the member's name.

My next step was just to copy to the individual emails Dave's approved text, "FAMILY MEMBER NAME will be buying for NAME DRAWN FROM ENVELOPE." Dave made every thing so perfect that even I could not screw it up.

I was near the end of this long list of relatives when a funny thought hit me, What Would Dave Do if all the gifts under the tree were addressed to him?

I hastily sent off a note to Mark his brother in law and soon the holiday prank was hatched. When I saw Dave's mother a few weeks later I explained to her how this would all work. I was not sure if she would go for it but judging by the email I received in my mailbox today, it worked like a charm.

So Merry Christmas, Dave. Thanks for having a generous humorous spirit this year.

- Tommy

Mr. Labotz's WWDD's 12/26/2005 Email:

Tom,

my family implemented what I'm told was your plan to convince me that the gift exchange had gotten completely bollixed up...... and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I immediately pictured you in your office, trying to put together the gift exchange emails while simultaneously talking on the phone, burning a CD, listening to the radio, and sorting through your paperwork. It was easy for me to imagine that things somehow went awry. When it looked like I was on the verge of spiralling into an "Oh my God, I've ruined Christmas!" type of depression, they let me in on the "joke".

Ho........... Ho............ Ho.................

At first I was hard pressed to appreciate the humorous aspects of the situation; my family did not suffer the same problem. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact.

Kudos for coming up with a great idea; even I can laugh about it now.

Dave
_________________________________
Next Stop, Bethlehem (Original Holiday Story)