Too late for christmas

A friend who owns a restaurant somewhere uptown called me the afternoon before Christmas with a problem that usually comes up at the height of the yuletide celebrations. He had planned a party at his place for a hundred poor children. But for some reason, he was only able to enlist half that number.

His staff had already started preparing the food for the intended number of kids. They had also packed perishable foodstuff and toys for each kid to take home. Much of these would go to waste if only a few kids would come. 

Now, with the party only several hours away, my friend was already frantically trying to find 50 more children. He asked if I knew where to get the kids. I asked back if he had tried an orphanage. He said he hadn’t, and so I mentioned several orphanages I knew.

A few minutes later, he called back and said all were already taken. “Taken” means that the kids were already booked on somebody else’s event on the same day and at the same time as his. All I could do was suggest that he keep trying, call other orphanages or the social welfare office.

I also warned my friend to expect disappointment. It was already too late; he had waited much too long when, in fact, he had all the time to do what he was doing for the last minute. But it was no time for blaming him, either.

In the last few days before Christmas, the poor children – especially those taken in by charitable institutions – have already been pretty well picked over. There is such a great demand for them at this time of the year. Everybody tends to want them at the same time.

During the Christmas season, orphanages and child-welfare houses are usually bombarded with invitations for their kids. Many companies and organizations want the kids for parties and other such activities. Of course, the kids cannot be in all places at the same time, and many of the eager sponsors are bound to be disappointed.

Yesterday, my neighbor was angrily complaining. She spent days collecting old clothes and toys from well-to-do friends, to give away to the more needy among us. She had gone around the neighborhood telling poor families to come get their gifts at her house on Christmas Day. To her big dismay, nobody came.

Understanding my neighbor’s disappointment, I tried to console her that she could just give away those things in the days to come, to whoever she’d find more deserving. Clothes and toys would be welcome anytime, anyway.

“Pero wa na’y Pasko!” she said emphatically.

Indeed, there is probably nothing as depressing as having the desire, just before Christmas, to do something good and then not being able to do it. It’s a wonder why it seems so much more satisfying to do good to the needy when all the radio stations are still playing Christmas carols and Christmas lights still twinkle all over. It’s not the same when done later, or earlier.

Right after Christmas, all kinds of needy people are still there. But by then, we are already planning for New Year’s Day, an occasion that centers on the family. By then other people will have taken a backseat in our hearts and minds.

Maybe we should plan and carry out much earlier our desire to do something good for others at Christmas. We can’t wait until the last minute.

Some companies I know held their Christmas parties for the Cebu media quite early. Aboitiz and Company, Inc. had theirs as early as December 2, San Miguel Corporation on December 4. Perhaps the only thing to make sure of is not to schedule Christmas events so early that makes it impossible to distribute invitations on time.

But, for the rest of us, why wait until Christmas Day to show the love we have for others? There are always hungry families out there, old widows that live alone in lonely houses, homeless people on the sidewalks. They are there whether it’s Christmas or not.

When we give to the Salvation Army, or place a bag of groceries beside a mother and child sleeping on the sidewalk, or give a wandering garbage boy a hat to cover him from the sun and rain, the feeling of gratification we get from our little deed is enormous. We are likely to get encouraged to do it more and more. Our innate humanity will shine through. And we become a blessing to all that we come in contact with.

There is no such thing as late or out-of-time for a good deed. The opportunity is always there. It is only when our sense of benevolence and compassion wanes that Christmas will have sadly lost its spirit.

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