CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

George and Lynne are out Christmas shopping. Lynne comments that she thinks Christmas is wonderful, to which George only half agrees. George puts the shopping in the boot of the car and is glad that the Christmas shopping is done for another year. Lynne says that they have the New Year sales to look forward to.

George is a gentleman. After the furore with the breakfast cereal, he has offered to accompany Lynne to the shops this time. Christmas shopping is a joint venture in their household so the presents have to come from both of them. George has the right to veto any purchase that they will put their names to. However, Lynne will go to the shops on her own to buy George's present but she will come back with four dresses and a hundred weight of non-descript perfume.

How many people do George and Lynne buying presents for? There's Sammy and 'Mantha obviously, but there must be more if George lets out an audible sigh at the end of the shopping trip. This must have been a long trip. There are many friends and distant relatives that George and Lynne have been seen with over the last few months, but who is to receive the large black and yellow box? It certainly is the largest and most conspicuous present of the shopping trip and whoever gets it will be very happy.

The contents of the yellow and black box is also a mystery. With Sammy and 'Mantha being their closest friends it will most likely be one of them. Sammy needs to clean up so it could be a chest expander for his new regime of fitness and abstinence, but that would most likely come in a box with a picture of it on the front. So the box must be for 'Mantha. A box like that must contain a pair of boots. Lynne is keen to get 'Mantha into the rock music that she has embraced and also secretly blames her for the unceremonious ejection from the club. With these boots they can re-enter the club with their heads held high, and finally talk to some guys.