Hey, everybody, it's Ira.

Okay, so what you're listening to right this second is not our regular weekly program,

but an extra episode that we decided just to throw it on the podcast feed for the holiday.

And Merry Christmas.

We just figured that lots of you might be traveling long distances this week,

flying or driving, and might want to have something extra to listen to on the way.

Or maybe you're with your family and you just need a long walk where you get a break from people

who you love. You definitely do love them. There's no question, but sometimes a person does just

sometimes need a little break, okay? Anyway, it's Christmas time. This episode is from our very first year as a national

show, has a couple of classic old school stories that definitely stand the test of time. Okay,

I've said enough. I'm now handing off now to myself back then.

You know that saying?

You can really tell who somebody is in a crisis.

You can really tell it Christmas, too.

That's because Christmas, more than any other day in the American year,

is the day when we're all handed the same stage props, the same tree, the presents, the meal,

the relatives, and all the same expectations.

And then we all try to create more or less the same kind of day.

It's like hundreds of millions of people, all set to work doing exactly the same art project.

Not just any art project, but a very high-stakes art project.

An art project, everybody cares about getting right.

And in that setting, the choices people make never seem clearer.

...