My stepfamily – my brother, brotherβs wife, and her kids (which he adopted) – have many wonderful qualities, but organisation is not one of Retro Merry Grinchmas Shirt. Even when I was 15 my brother (18 years older than me) would call me, panicking, on Christmas Eve, wanting me to come shopping and help pick out stuff for his girlfriend. Now that heβs married and in his fifties, he no longer calls me for shopping help, but I expect he still leaves a lot of it till Christmas Eve. This year Iβve been texting him and my niece since September, asking what to get for my nephew and his partner (who I donβt know that well, and Iβve never met his partner), my nieceβs partner (ditto), and five kids (I was never an average kid and have no idea what to buy children, as shown by a couple years ago, when I bought the 3-year-old a box set of the Chronicles of Narnia, and then was startled when I was gently told that 3-year-olds canβt read. I taught myself to read with Enid Blyton at 3, and my dad gave me Narnia by the end of that year, but apparently this is not the norm).
Retro Merry Grinchmas Shirt hoodie, tank top, sweater and long sleeve t-shirt
I was working in a Retro Merry Grinchmas Shirt in the seventies and it was was always busy at the weekends. At Christmas, it was busy to the extreme. We only took bookings. First year a lot of people let us down and didnβt turn up. Lesson learned. Second year we took a deposit. Still people didnβt turn up, but the people that did request that the deposit from the βno showsβbe taken off the bill. Lesson learned. In the third year we altered the rules again. This time it was Β£5 per person deposit non-refundable for βno showsβ. Knowing they canβt make it and not wanting to lose their deposit, what do they do? They phone through and say, βSorry we canβt come to your restaurant, my mother has passed away recently. Under the circumstances, we expect a full refund.