Be Kind To Each Other

The Napkin Diaries
By Paula Pistol
Be Kind To Each Other

I’m going to vent my spleen this week. I need to purge all the recent little poisonous moments that have occurred to my loved ones before the weekend arrives, at which point I expect the Season of Joy and Goodwill to descend upon Wellington in a cheerful downpour of marshmallow reindeer and pohutukawa blossoms.

One such mean moment occurred last week to my courier friend Hasty Pickup during that bloody awful downpour. Amidst Friday’s gridlock, a wanker in a BMW boxed Hasty’s van in on Boulcott Street, while he stood there in his little courier shorts balancing an armful of parcels.

When Hasty wandered up to the clearly-more-important-because-he-was-wearing-a-suit chap and kindly asked him to inch forward, the bloke was out of the Beamer shaking his fist before you could say “post haste”.

There was pushing, there was shoving. Hasty’s parcels got wet and he got home late. It was a pathetic display, and I’d like to remind Mr Important Suit that a family in the Hutt is coming to terms with the fact that the same downpour has lost them their Granny, in a tragic crash that thankfully spared the life of the grandchild.

As we all know, the Season of Joy and Goodwill is actually the season of late nights finishing major projects before the New Year (I haven’t seen Sarah Barr or Gita Mann all week), and stressing about whether we can afford Christmas presents. So I’d like to just remind us all to be kind to each other over the next month.

I’m pleased to report, a little selfishly, that the week ended on a high note for me down at the James Cabaret during Three Piece Suit. I don’t drop musicians’ names in the Napkin Diaries just to earn myself shout-outs at gigs, but hey, don’t mention it, Dallas! And since last week’s column struck a chord with so many people, here’s another plug for our sweet local sounds.

Hats off to the record label Fast Food, whose debut release “Christmas on the Rocks” features rock’n’roll Christmas carols from the likes of Five Car Pile-Up, The Datsuns and Mary. I’ll be down at Indigo this Friday for a knees-up to launch that album. Hats off also to the Twinset, whose little Christmas album is on high-rotate in my kitchen as I stuff fresh veges down my gob in an effort to keep the body in vaguely healthy condition through this party season.

Speaking of which, Wanda Martini is six days into her Christmas bender, so if you would be so kind as to not pop the girl her favourite question (“want a martini?”) I’d be very grateful.

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