Amy was all in black and I was concerned. Not about the non-colour (which I tolerate though don't like: it doesn't go well with me personally and ideologically*; besides I couldn't hold it against her as black was what the company suggested for her work-experience period), but about her head: I feared it had been messed up. Amy was, it had just turned out, a Goth and although I didn't know much about her particular sub-culture, my decently-informed understanding of youth sub-cultures is that they all are fallacy-peddlers. In short, I feared that she - even being the nice person she was - might have gone seriously off at the tangent of somebody else's sin.
So I slyly decided to slip a little of (Baby) Jesus into her life; or reintroduce: the UK is a freshly post-Christian society and most local young people have heard of the Saviour.
"What's your favourite carol, Amy?", I ventured.
There was a long silence.
"I don't know if I have a favourite one". Another stretch of silence. "And I can't remember any".
I didn't know what to say, but I felt I needed to do something. I was making my mind up between crying and screaming, when Amy interrupted: "Oh, yes! I like best All I Want For Christmas Is You".
Being polite and being in Britain where you have to be doubly polite (respect to the Brits for that!) I suppressed an appropriate outburst of laughter, but explained in that sweet voice of mine which can mask either heart-felt condescension or compassion that it was a very cute song ("and performer", I added in my mind), but it wasn't a carol in the strictest of the available senses of the term (I understated, wanting to sound local). Then I smiled as I recalled something.
"But you know what? If you make the 'you' in the song 'Jesus', it becomes a carol - and a good one".
Which is exactly what I had decided to do with this song a few days prior to the conversation with Amy, for a project I'm working on. And I thought that brief exchange and Amy's response a very cute coincidence; one of those that love you and me. Just like - despite all I've done to him**; I strongly hope and genuinely believe - he still does.
*more about colours and the dynamic 'nature' of man - soon.
**I don't want to imply anything about you - maybe you've kept all the commandments that prove your seriousness about the project, but let me just say one word: Shema!
PS Later on it stuck me: maybe Amy understood the song as a carol right from the start? Maybe it's obvious to most people that it is about Christ and my staking it for the Empire was redundant?
