Christmas is a great time for good stories.  I don’t mean the Christmas story itself or stories about Santa, but simply the things that people do or say at this time of year that wouldn’t be as funny at any other time of year.

 

Take the story of the Manchester United football fans from a few years ago.  A regular fan was turning up at Old Trafford for every home match and noticed that the two seats next to him were empty.  Knowing how highly sought after the tickets were, he was amazed that weeks and weeks into the season, no one showed up.  He even checked with the ticket office, in case the staff had made a mistake and not realised that the seats hadn’t been sold.  The girl behind the terminal reassured him that there were season tickets for both the seats, and if the owners decided not to use them, there was nothing they could do about it.

 

The mystery continued until the first home match after Christmas, when the fan suddenly found the seats taken by a man and his young son.  Where have you been, the fan asked.  We’re half way through the season.

 

The newcomer takes on a world weary look, sighs deeply, and with a mixture of frustration and resolution explains that his wife had bought the two tickets for him as a surprise Christmas present, but had decided not to give them to him and his son until Christmas day, completely unaware that the season started in August.  She had assumed that they would be valid from when they started using them.  She had been so excited about the surprise, that he hadn’t had the heart to explain what a huge waste of money it was, and how gutted he was that he’d missed so many matches.

 

In business, we have all come across people who have great intentions but still manage to get it horribly wrong, often to their detriment as well as yours.  It also goes to show that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should, and that if you are not an expert on something you should ask someone who is!

 

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  Whether you’ve been naughty or nice.