Humbug

Today’s is something very different, my apologies to any who don’t like it.  I’ll be back on to email tomorrow!

 
This afternoon I’m off to see a stage production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  For as long as I can remember, this has always been my favorite Christmas story.  I’ve seen most movie versions multiple times (not the Jim Carry 3d animation one…don’t be silly), including the Muppets (actually a very good version, and the subtext of being made soon after the death of Jim Hensen makes it very poignant), the musical Scrooge (to call it uneven would be overly generous, but Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley!), and Mr. Magoo (unbelievably frightening for a child…still remember being scared).  My favorite is the George C. Scott version made for television about 25 years ago which I still watch multiple times every Christmas season.
 
One of my favorite memories of A Christmas Carol goes back about 20 years to Knott’s Berry Farm’s Bird Cage Theater. The Bird Cage was a great venue in the park where a small troop of actors did comic melodramas.  Of course this closed many years ago, I assume because of lack of interest and probably significant costs of paying actual people to act.  However, back then during the Christmas season, the theater was open to the public for free, and they did a reduced production of A Christmas Carol every hour.  I spend one afternoon seeing the production 4 times, enjoying the way that actors would play different parts each time.  It was a great afternoon, followed by Mrs Knott’s chicken.
 
One reason that I like the story so much is that it illustrates a vital lesson about human nature.  In the best productions, the character of Scrooge is a pitiable figure rather than an evil one (one of the reasons why I so like the Scott version is that he plays Scrooge not as caricature, but with cynical humor).  He has been hurt into cynicism and solitude.  Fear of the vulnerability of being hurt has created the safety shell that is only broken by the demonstrated realization that even a safe life leads to the grave.  The redemption at the end is a willingness to rejoin life despite the risks and pain it brings. 
 
I see the same thing in myself and in many that work with.  Openness to new programs devices or ideas leaves one vulnerable to ridicule.  Cynical negativity at least seems to offer some protection.  As I said in frustration a few weeks ago, “If you always say no, you’re never wrong.”. However, just as in the case of Scrooge, this safety is an illusion because it can’t hold off the future, whether it be a death of a person, or of an education system. 
 
I hope that you enjoy A Christmas Carol this holiday, and I hope its lesson of hope brightens your day.
 
As always, I invite your comments.