I’m getting subtle hints that the family doesn’t really approve of the way we do Christmas. It’s been tradition in the McDoogle household ever since I was a young lad, when we moved from the cold hills of Aberdeen shire. Grandfather Angus couldn’t stand the thought of us sitting here having our Christmas turkey in the stifling warmth, and so we’ve allocated a bit of the budget each year to some top-notch air conditioning services. Our house now has…let me count…5 air con units, which together fairly accurately create the sensation of being in the hills of Scotland during the winter. Fortunately, we’ve pretty serious about getting a regular air conditioning repair service . Canberra is far too hot in December for our Scottish blood. We’ve kept our AC properly serviced over the years, making it easy to find someone to keep the Christmas traditions alive.
We’re not savages. We have a roaring fire going, big and strong enough to be found in a great medieval castle! See, we get all the McDoogle together in the one home, and they know what’s up by now so they all wrap up nice and warm. We use the air con units to generate a frosty cold, so low that you’re breathing out steam and you can’t take your gloves off without fingers going numb, and then the fire is stoked. And thus we have ourselves a pleasant, authentic Christmas whilst warmed by the fire, all the blinds closed to simulate the dark of winter.
And then this year my wife comes and says that maybe we don’t need to do that anymore, and that for once, we should try to see what Australians do for Christmas. You know…fly in the face of decades of tradition. Apparently the cost of both the air con and the air conditioning repairs is tallying up. And I know Christmas is an expensive time, but I really think the McDoogle family Christmas sets us apart.
We shall have a family meeting, and take a vote! But even for one year, the companies that maintain air conditioning in Canberra are going to have a sad Christmas. We’re by far their best customers.