Scrooge Was Right

Elaine Viets

Poor Scrooge. For 168 years, he’s been reviled. Why, his very name means "a miserly person" in the dictionary.

But times change, and so do attitudes. We need to take another look at old Ebenezer.

If you read Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" again, you can see Scrooge is a victim of press persecution.

Dickens was biased from the start, introducing Scrooge as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching, covetous old sinner." After that, you’re naturally going to think the worst.

But examine Scrooge’s statements on their own, and you’ll see the man was ahead of his time.

Look at the famous "Bah humbug" lines that get him in so much trouble.

Scrooge says, "What’s Christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer, a time for balancing your books and having every item in ’em a round dozen of months presented dead against you."

Right on, Scrooge. You must have been checking my checking account. In the midst of the season’s runaway consumerism, Scrooge is warning us against the dangers of overspending.

"If I had my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart."

A bit harsh there, Eb. But I know how you feel. I’m so sick of watching TV ads with crazed consumers waving shopping bags, I may stake them myself.

Scrooge needs understanding during this season of peace and love. You can guess what it’s like at his office the whole month of December: It’s impossible to get any work done. Everyone Scrooge calls is either on vacation or gone for the rest of the day – at one o’clock. The fake Christmas tree on the office file cabinet falls over every time he shuts a drawer.

Even worse, Scrooge’s coworkers have been bringing in Christmas food. Like many successful executives, Scrooge is weight conscious. But to be polite, he’s had "just a taste" of fruitcake, eggnog, gingerbread cookies, homemade wine, peppermint sticks and a punch made from lime sherbet, Jell-O and ginger ale. The guy must be living on antacids.

Dickens starts his story on Christmas Eve, and doesn’t take any of this into account. Scrooge has to run a business, even if it is a holiday. He’s trying to get some work done when his nephew Fred barges into the office. He wants Scrooge to come to Christmas dinner. Scrooge refuses. A bachelor is not used to a noisy meal at someone else's house.

Fred cannot take a hint. He keeps insisting. At last, Scrooge says flat out that he can’t stand Fred's wife.

OK, that was a little abrupt. But it marks Scrooge as a man of rare courage. Many of us long to say how we really feel about our relatives: We can't stand them. If we do like them, we don’t like their spouse. But do we say so? Heck no. We go to one dreary family dinner after another and keep our mouths shut.

Scrooge also has to endure his perpetually cheerful employee, Bob Cratchit. Scrooge grumps at him, too. By this time in December, I've usually had my fill of holiday cheer, too. But I try to keep peace and paste on a smile.

Scrooge has also been criticized for refusing to subscribe to a charity. Let’s look at that scene again. Two "portly gentlemen" show up at the office. From the heft of them, Scrooge probably figures this well-fed pair is from a charity that squanders donations on executive limos and staff parties.

"What shall I put you down for?" the one asks boldly.

"Nothing!" says Scrooge, just as bold. The charity looks like an operation that deducts your donation from your paycheck, and your promotion is based on how much you give.

Finally, poor Scrooge goes home and tries to get some rest. Instead, the spirits of Christmas drag him around all night, ordering him to shape up and enjoy himself.

Scrooge wakes up scared. He sends the usual turkey bonus to his employee, Cratchit, then goes to his nephew's place for dinner after he already told the family no. Naturally, they had to find him a place.

According to Dickens, Scrooge is a reformed man.

If you ask me, he sold out.

 

Comments

[gaylin in Vancouver]

I wonder if Scrooge was presented with yet another scarf, to round out the 42 scarves he has already been given over the years. (most of them orange)

"You shouldn't have, no really, you shouldn't . . ."

My least favourite part of gift getting, the gracious thank-you for something I never wanted or needed in the first place. Call me Scrooge, I am glad my family doesn't get together anymore.

[Josh]

I could make political statements here, but I never do that.

Christmas is a day for sleeping in, bitching about nothing being on TV, going out to a movie, and driving around searching for someplace that's open, settling on the Chinese restaurant.

Now, that's tradition.

[Alan P.]

Considering that yesterday, work was largely devoted to room decorating, Eb may be on to something.

And please put me down for the end of "the Holidays."

"What holidays?"

"You know, the holidays."

Since "for the holidays" started around November first, that could be quite a list.

Sorry, if it is red, green and tinsled, its Christmas. Espcially you confused merchants that offer "Holiday" (red/green) and "Chanukah" (blue/white). You can say it, uit wont matter to me.

[Alan P.]

The charitable beggars

Orthodox Jewish Charities are full of them. I used to see them in certain establishments all the time. gray beards, black hats, black coats there to remind the more secular that supporting their scholarly studies is a blessing.

[Nancy Martin]

Mr. Magoo. There, I said it. The definitive portrayal of Scrooge was Mr. Magoo. Whatever Razzleberry dressing is, I was some.

Me, I aspire to be Fezziwig. Let's have a party!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKZqGJONH68&ob=av2e

[Karen in Ohio]

Oh, Elaine. Trust you to spin Ebenezer Scrooge into a misunderstood and really just worn out philanthropist.

P.S. I detest A Christmas Carol, with every fiber of my being. There, I said it. True confession from Karen in Ohio.

[The gold digger]

Yes! I love your interpretation. He was just a guy trying to run a business and to get his accounts receivable in order. Small business lives and dies by cash flow, so if his customers weren't paying, he wasn't eating!

I applaud anyone who refuses to spend time with in-laws he doesn't like. I agree Scrooge sold out by going to dinner in the end. Just because you are related to someone does not mean you are obligated to spend a holiday with her.

Bah.

[xena]

Uh...I...believe his nephew's name was something else.
Bob Cratchit was his employee as you said at the end.
I myself like the Muppets Christmas.
Kermit and Miss Piggie were the Cratchits, I played the part last year at Pinecrest's Dickens of a Christmas in South Miami. Miss Piggie's performance was my inspiration for the part.
Nice comparison Elaine. I hadn't really thought of it before.
My other fave is The Shepherd, The Angel and Walter the Christmas Wonder Dog by Dave Barry.

[Elaine Viets]

Gold Digger, you are playing my song.
Karen, ever see the New Yorker cartoon where the Addams family pours boiling oil on the Christmas carolers? Not the same "Christmas Carol," but the same spirit.
Gaylin, how about the relative on the opposite end of the polical spectrum who gave me an ugly necklace in a Neiman-Marcus box? I took it back and NM saleswoman looked at it like it was a dead roach. "We don't sell that here," she said.

[Elaine Viets]

Xena, his nephew's name was Fred. You are right. I re-read the story and corrected it. I hope you understand the depths of my sacrifice -- I read this twice-baked Christmas tale again.
Bah Humbug.

[marie]

I saw a live performance of "A Christmas Carol" at Knott's Berry farm a few years ago.
It was a short pageant that left me with the feeling that Ebenezer was a lonely soul who deflected the Christmas spirit because he did not know how to express it. Lacking love he chose to be grumpy for a lack of a better word.
Then at the end he sold out to love. Yes he was getting old but he still had the chance to seek a more spiritual side.
It's never too late. Merry Christmas to all.

[Carol Robinson]

Wow. I have a different take on the story. Bob Cratchit, stuck in a dead end job, is unable to afford medical care for his youngest child. His penny pinching employer maintains horrible working conditions by underpaying his employees, severe working conditions (no heat), and mandatory overtime all so he can bank more and more money. Unlike today's scrooges, he doesn't seem to have cared about luxuries or showing off, he just wanted all the money he could get. So a few ghosts show up to make the point that you can't take it with you so why not make life better for everyone around you while you can? And a very important side benefit is that Scrooges own life becomes something worth living. Yeah, it's saccharine, but the message is timeless.

[Storyteller Mary]

Oh, Elaine, you bold rebel! I don't think the Cratchits invited him for dinner either (not enough food planned for even the family, until that giant turkey appeared). Bob just asked for a half-day off for the holiday. I think it's hard to keep the literary facts straight with all the theatrical versions filling our brains.
There is a big difference between Fred and Fezziwig's joyous celebrations of the season and our current frenzied brainwashing to shop, spend, consume. I am quite with you on rejection of the shopping fever.
My nieces/nephews have come to expect books -- but what they really like are the crisp green "bookmarks" within, and they don't even mind that those are small denominations . . .
A storytelling friend wrote about selecting "treasures" from her home to give as gifts, and I think that's a lovely idea, too. Most of all, let's enjoy some time with those we do love. Fred was, after all, the son of a beloved sister, and quite a nice fellow, really.

[Storyteller Mary]

I couldn't find a paper copy (my books are the very model of eclectic disorganization), but good old project Gutenberg . . .
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm#13

[Reine]

Hilarious Elaine!

Personally, I love the Chinese Christmas dinner tradition.

[Elaine Viets]

I love the Chinese Christmas dinner, too. Many of my Jewish friends observe that tradition. Thanks, Josh.
Mary, I think I've finaly fixed all the errors. I've read this story for the third time now. In the words of Snoopy, "Bleh!"

[lil Gluckstern]

I was just talking about Christmas in LA to a friend. It was exactly as Alan said. The movies were jammed, The restaurants were busy, and there were Palm Trees. Having spent my life on the East Coast, it was mind boggling. And it was 75 degrees! Of course, there the winter we went to see my then in-laws in West Palm Beach, in Florida. Not too much Christmas there, more of a Chanukah place :)

[Karen in Ohio]

Thanks for taking three for the team, Elaine.

Better you than me. :-)

[Storyteller Mary]

Elaine, I think we would have excused any and all errors just to spare you the re-reading.
The Chinese dinner tradition works in specific locations . . . I remember the owners of a new Chinese restaurant out here in St. Peters saying that of course they would be open for Christmas. It was always a busy day in their other location, near University City . . . I tried to warn them that it wouldn't be the same.

[Harley]

I was trying to explain the Chinese Christmas Takeout for our Jewish Friends & Relatives to my kids, but it didn't make any sense to them. I think there needs to be a TV Hallmark movie devoted to the tradition.

I once named a cat Ebenezer, for the record.

[gaylin in Vancouver]

Elaine - getting crap in a fancy box, totally suckage!

I think Christmas also changed for me when the food allergies started, Christmas dinner without eating stuffing, bah humbug. And no hot turkey sandwiches the next day either.

[Cinema Dave]

I've been a victim of the "Chinese Fire Drill of Gift Giving." I face another one next Friday and I was told, "Bring one of your books."

Given that my 665 page volume would be used as a weapon, I think it is best to simply fill a promotional item (authentic "Cinema Dave" mug) and fill it with chocolate. Sounds Scroogey, but it's safe, ceramic breaks.

[Doc In CA]

I want to read the version where, after cooking the books, Bob Cratchit has ripped that old bastard Scrooge off for all his money. He then drugs Scrooge, who has a night of hallucinations about Christmas while Bob and his family sail off to the USA, where Tiny Tim get proper medical treatment and they all live happily ever after.

Meanwhile, Scrooge has raised drugged up Hell all night on the streets of London and wakes up in a sanitarium. Released after a few months, he sells everything he owns, moves to a small town in Scotland, changes his name to Moriarty, marries a much younger local woman and has a son named James.

[Elaine Viets]

Chocolate works for any occasion, Dave.
Gaylin!!!! My condolences on the food allergies. Holiday leftovers are one of the joys of the season. And if you eat them standing up at the fridge, the calories slide right off.

[Margaret Maron]

No, no, NO! Elaine. I adore The Christmas Carol - the original book and the Alastair Sim movie. I cry every time Fred's mother (Scrooge's sister) comes to that lonely little boy and tells him that "Father's so much kinder now." And when Fred's wife welcomes him . . . oh dear. Anyone have a Kleenex?

[Storyteller Mary]

. . . and now you've made me hungry for Chinese food . . . ;-)

[Storyteller Mary]

. . and much of Chinese food is very soft and good for the post-root-canal sore mouth . . .

[NancyP]

So clever, Elaine!

My Scrooge is Bill Murray.

[Cornelia Read]

I could totally marry Scrooge.

Oh, wait... I already did that once.

[Elaine Viets]

The perfect ending to this blog, Cornelia.

[JKW]

Hi Elaine, I haven't seen you for awhile. Problem is that I was in love with George C. Scott and could never see him as anything but a heart of gold beneath all that bluff and bluster, lol. Now, husbands, that's a whole other category!!! (Mine passed in 2001.) Blessings, Janet

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again, you can see Scrooge is a victim of press persecution.