Saturday, November 14, 2009

Stop messing with my delirium. And my Pageant.

Scary the things you see on Facebook these days. Someone I know had written something so outrageous, so totally shocking and... well, shocking, I had just had to reply. If I didn't I was afraid the world as we know it would be ruined for ever.

Someone dissed the Christmas Pageant. Heinous, I know, but it happened, people.

We have to forgive him, though--after all, he's a Victorian and cannot possibly be expected to comprehend the gravity of his words. Thanks to the glory of Facebook I disabused him of the notion that it was merely tradition that kept this venerated institution going even when the temperature would be 39 degrees in the shade. (Bet the organisers wish they had really stuck with tradition and ran it last week instead of holding it over until today!)

I reminded this poor soul it was more than tradition that kept the Pageant alive. Even though his Victorian-ness was showing, those of us in the know had the grace and patience to explain that it is sooooooo much more than tradition that makes us care about the Christmas pageant.

I told him that it's the biggest pageant in the southern hemisphere (don't you dare call it a "parade"!), bigger than Sydney's mardi gra and one of the biggest of its type in the world. I also let him know that it's the subject of books, movies and the imaginations of hundreds of thousands of little kids. Who could forget that literary classic "Tissi and the Pageant"? I'm sure they made a movie of it... didn't they?

Now I know I'm showing my age when I confess that I secretly still refer to it as the "Johnnies' Christmas Pageant". But I know that I am not alone when I confess that I still harbour an irrational desire to be one of the chosen to walk through the city on that special day. I remember gazing adoringly at Nipper and Nimble as they passed me by, and longing to be the little girl who rode them.

That was last year. Now I'd be happy to be one of the grown up fairies that helps Father Christmas on his way to the Magic Cave.

It's free entertainment for cash-strapped families. It embodies the hopes and dreams of generations. It's part of our culture.

Messing with the Christmas Pageant--is nothing sacred? Next they'll be telling me there is no Father Christmas!




1 comment:

  1. am really enjoying reading your blog... how tech savvy have you become ;) on twitter as well I'm impressed... Are following you now so I can keep up with ur trouble :P

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