The Woods are lovely dark and deep, and we have miles to go before I sleep,’ Robert Frost told us…that is, unless you are a deer. Today, as Mama Deer was cooking the pumpkin pie, she was wearing an orange vest. Dad Deer hid his antlers under festive Christmas lights. Bambi and Little Buck were relegated to the Den until the guns stopped sounding.

‘Mama, why do those people choose to live in tents outside in the cold?’ Little Buck asked. ‘They have no visible fur to warm them against the falling temperatures,’ Little Buck continued. ‘I see them pushing grocery carts full of sundry items,’ Little Buck said. ‘It seems that the items in the cart are all that they have,’ Little Buck noted. ‘Do they wear orange vests and caps during hunting season?’ Little Buck asked. As near as I can determine, they have no protection from freezing and starvation,’ Little Buck observed. ‘I wish we could buy them some orange vests to distinguish them from the poor, diverse people that are hunted by the government,’ Little Buck said.

‘Holidays are joyful, there’s always something new…every day is a holiday when I am with you,’ Karen Carpenter sang so beautifully. We gather in our favourite Fishbowl. We see the same faces and know all of the names of the attendees. We do not like surprises and have ensured that we will not encounter any. ‘The Others must have trained professionals caring for them. There are government services for them. Some social workers understand their needs. Most of them do not wear orange vests or caps to distinguish themselves from the destruction. ‘Are there no prisons?’ asked Scrooge. ‘And the union workhouses?’ Are they still in operation? ‘The treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?’ said Scrooge.