We’ve all been there on Christmas morning.
You are given a brightly-wrapped present from a clearly thrilled and excited family member, and thrilled, yes thrilled (!) at what exciting treasure may lie ahead, you rip off the ribbons and paper (yes I am a destructive present opener) and find yourself face to face, in a manner of speaking, with a pair of undies … or a pack of Ferrero Rocher … or even socks … yes socks.
Try as you might to look as thrilled as you felt mere moments before, you fail miserably (especially if you’re a heart-on-your-sleeve extrovert like myself upon whose face emotions race unbidden before they can be stopped in the interests of harmonious social interaction) and find yourself opening and closing your mouth like a very disappointed goldfish.
Of course everyone in the room knows you hate the gift but engage in a mass group delusion that you in fact LOVED it, ADORED it and will likely tattoo an image of the gift on your arm in the not too distant future and all is well.
But what if you could pretend with the skilled of a trained award-winning actor to LOOK like you LOVE it etc? What then?
Why you would be able to give the very impression of an astonishingly grateful giftee, the family group would be tickled pink at your faked but utterly believable happiness and you would all break into a rousing rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” as you skip merrily to the overladen Christmas lunch table.
OK the last part may be pushing it a bit but the former things could indeed come to pass and it will all be thanks to Miranda Hart and David Walliams inspiring master classes designed to help you to accept all manner of awful gifts with grace, aplomb and yay verily, even giddy delight.
You’re welcome!