SPEAKING TRUTH TO GRANDMA.

SPEAKING TRUTH TO GRANDMA. What happens when the giver guesses wrong? My own view is that the random element is part of the fun of Christmas. There are other views. I had a friend whose mother, if she felt that a present was not appreciated, would keep giving it each year until it was appreciated. Around 1970, another friend, who was a teacher, told me how stunned she was by was by some things her students had said. She taught French to high school students, and had used Christmas presents as a subject for conversation. What stunned her was that her students—all of them—took the position that if your grandmother gave you a present you didn’t like, it was your duty to be honest and tell her you didn’t like it. My friend argued with them unsuccessfully. I was stunned as well by her story. Looking back, it seems to me that this marked a generational change in the culture.