Sod’s law

We have arrived at the time of year that most self-respecting Canadians are putting the finishing touches to their Christmas decorations (mostly public-facing… unlike us shy and retiring Brits) and settling in to await the feast itself. Mind you, some of our neighbours started constructing their displays the very moment that they had packed away the last of the Halloween decorations; I guess on the principle that the show must… you know… go on!

The Girl nobly puts up with my seasonal cavils and my demands that nothing Christmas related should be addressed before the first of December (with the honourable exception, for obvious reasons, of the purchase of the Advent calendar – for those who go in for such things).

Now, once December is here, the first Christmas related item on my agenda is usually the sending of Christmas cards, the which (given that a fair number of them are headed for Blighty) must needs be tackled as soon as possible after the turn of the month if they are to stand a chance of arriving in time for the big day.

…and that is, of course, where Mr Sod and his eponymous law – comes into play.

Yup! The postal workers at Canada Post went on strike some  three weeks ago now and currently show no signs of backing down from their demands.

So – here’s the quandary. If we set about writing, addressing and posting our greetings there is a very good chance that (assuming we can actually post them at all) they will simply join the gazillions of already posted screeds – none of which is likely to make it through until Easter – or thereabouts.

Now, the strike could be resolved at any second, of course, but the worry is that it is already too late to make a difference as far as Christmas is concerned. Should we be wise virgins we should probably resort immediately to online cardage this year – whilst being cognisant of the fact that a number of folks whose addresses we have are an unknown quantity in the online arena.

I guess we just have to do the best we can.

Of course, this all takes no account of those operating in the opposite direction. Since many such will have no idea that Canada Post in on strike they will simply and happily post their festive greetings, unaware that they these will probably simply be tossed onto some huge card mountain – never to be seen again.

What to do? What to do? How will we make it through in the face of all these first-world problems?