There's so little sincerity in so much of the cheer we've heard lately maybe we should replace ho, ho, ho with yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
At least it would make the horse hockey that's being passed around as good cheer go down a little easier.
Here's a tip o the cap to the CBC and its morning man for the most self-serving and callous bon mot of the week.
In a dissertation on how wonderful Christmas is, the local morning man was waxing poetic about Christmas in Prince George.
All was wonderful.
He went on about the beauty of Candy Cane Lane and how nice the city looked all dressed up in white.
Unfortunately, the egg nog must have kicked in about then because the next thing he said was, "Wouldn't it be nice if there weren't so many shoppers in the stores."
Nice for who?
Certainly not for the hard-working people who pay our wages here at The Citizen.
And while we're concerned about the well-being and pocketbooks of our citizenry, when will city hall get with the program?
The administration has come in for considerable criticism for its spending in our pages.
But it's one particular revenue stream that has bells jingling this time.
The Northern Festival of Lights is one of the grand concepts of this or any other administration.
City staff does a remarkable job decorating Connaught Hill Park and it, along with Candy Cane Lane, are not to be missed.
Those displays alone are enough to make Prince George a Christmastime destination for families from near and far.
The fact Connaught Hill Park is also a downtown location should help drive people into out beleaguered, downtown core.
Unfortunately, since it's beginning the concept has been handled as if Prince George had been replaced by Whoville and the Grinch had been left in charge.
And we do mean charge.
Is it really necessary to be so money hungry that we have to scrape every last nickel and dime out of the pockets of our friends and neighbours by charging them $10 per vehicle or $5 per pedestrian to view such a heartwarming attraction? That would cool anyone's cockles.
Connaught Hill Park should be a celebration of everything that's good about the season, not another revenue stream - leave that to our much-appreciated Christmas shoppers.
