Answering machine message:  “Hello.  I am home.  The reason I am not answering the phone is because I am avoiding people I don’t like.  Please leave your name and number.  If I call you back, you are not one of those people.”

While I was getting my “Christmas haircut,” my barber, Lou, shared with me an incident that had happened a few day before. He was cutting the hair of a little boy while the boy’s father was waiting for him.  The boy was fascinated by the barbershop’s Christmas tree, which adorned with lights and decorations.  He turned to his father and asked, “Daddy, why can’t we have a Christmas tree in our house?”