Obligations

People are forever saying things they don't really mean because they live in a society in which they feel obliged to do so. People are obliged to say thank you to shop owners who have just served them ("Thanks a lot for charging me about double what I'd usually pay, mate"). People feel obliged to say sorry to total random strangers for accidentally blocking their way on stairs or what not when they don't really mean it at all. Or perhaps it's become a bit of an instinctive reaction. We feel obliged to say happy birthday to people when what we really bear little good will. We feel obliged to say congratulations to people who beat us in competitions when we mean to tell them they didn't deserve it. We feel obliged to throw please on the end of everything because it somehow makes what we ask for a request rather than a demand. We feel obliged to say see you soon when what we're really thinking is something more along the lines of relief we won't have to see that person for a while.

And even though I think the occassion has become a commercial joke with little meaning, I feel obliged to say to you all, MERRY CHRISTMAS!