Santa Claus, Lewis Carroll and magical thinking over Brexit

If people would only believe in the ability, tenacity and fighting spirit of the British.

How short are people’s memories? When all seemed lost didn’t a fairy godmother come to the rescue of Cinderella.

And look how well that worked out in the end, a life of happiness in an enchanting castle with a handsome charming prince at her side. Hush, don’t disturb the feminists!

We are just after celebrating Christmas where virtually every child received presents from Father Christmas and no invoice left attached with any of these presents.

Please, if only for the sake of the children, don’t any adult even dare mutter: I don’t really believe in Santa Claus.

And I never liked one of Isaac Newton’s theories of motion: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Did he never hear of magic, not to mention magical thinking?

I sometimes despair. Have we lost all imagination? If only another Lewis Carroll would appear! But maybe he had Irish ancestry! But then a minority of Irish claim they are British and that has something to do with ancestry, please don’t mention colonisation.

The same way, I suppose, that many Americans could claim they are British. I believe Donald Trump’s mother come from the United Kingdom?

Well, at least there is one spark of magical thinking because the UK seems so disunited. Possibly fake news. But President Trump only wants to make America great again.

As well as despairing I sometimes get confused too. As my mother used to say, it’s a funny old world.

Joseph Mackey, Westmeath