Nothing says festive like yard bags under the tree (by Dave Barry)

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna.

 

This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas,

when the Three Wise Men -- Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb -- went to see the

baby Jesus, and, according to the Book of Matthew, ``presented unto Him

gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.''

 

These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an

important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of

wrapping paper.

 

If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:

 

``And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.

 

``And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.

 

``And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she

saideth, `Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'

 

``And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.

 

``And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the

frankincense.''

 

But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first

Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those

gifts had two important characteristics:

 

1. They were wise.

 

2. They were men.

 

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting

paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my

opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys

I know. One is my son, Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is,

quote, ``if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the

person opens it.'' The other is my friend Gene Weingarten, who told me he

does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15

seconds per gift.

 

``No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas,''

Gene said. ``They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.''

 

I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can

never COMPLETELY wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards

and put it the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a

regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can

still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this

sector with a marking pen.) If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field

of mummies, the lower half of the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by

Scotch tape.

 

On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper,

she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually LIKES

wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps

the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of

mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual

volt.

 

My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills -- like having babies

-- that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I am

presenting:

 

GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN

 

 

Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the

recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim

that it's myrrh.

 

The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your

own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half

horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch.

They must be smoking crack.

 

If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it

inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates

a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on

Christmas morning:

YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?

 

YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!

 

YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.

 

YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!

 

YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.

 

YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

 

In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or

how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year,

is that you save the receipt.

 

Hare Krishna --

 

your servant, Balarama Dasa