Merry Christmas Everyone

I've had a weird evening. My family was having a big party tonight and it went fabulously. However midway through everyone in the house dancing around to Mariah Carey someone arrived and told us Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated. Tragic news that shocked us all and caused great discussion. However parties must go on and we eventually got back to the festivities. Sadly I have to work tomorrow so I left about an hour ago. I got on the tube and things got worse. I witnessed my first ever racist abuse. You may say I'm naive / sheltered whatever to have never seen anyone racially abused before. I've lived a pretty wide and varied life but I like to think that living in the tolerant place that London is had left me thinking that most cultures really can get along together. So I was pretty shocked and disgusted with what I saw tonight. I was on the down escalator to the Victoria line in Kings Cross when two chaps on the up escalator started shouting Merry Christmas. I saw this as festive goodwill until I saw the chap they were shouting at was a Muslim man in full cultural Islamic dress, accompanied by a woman wearing the full Hijab. They then started laughing and shouting "Hang on I recognise him! Ain't that Osama Bin Laden?" "Yeah it is, prick" "Yeah PRICK". I was so horrified. I've really never seen behaviour like this in London before. Now I'm a few glasses of wine worse for wear so I screamed "RACIST WANKERS" back up the escalators at them - may not have been the most eloquent retort but I felt it conveyed the message I was trying to get across quite effectively. I then went up to the man and the woman after we all got off the escalator and said "Please ignore them, they are wankers".

Now I suspect to a very strict Muslim chap, having a pissed woman swear at you is probably not what you want to hear but again I hope it conveyed the point I was trying to make.

I'll probably get shot by a thousand Tories for saying this but I see Christmas as a secular holiday these days. Every religion, culture etc. has some sort of festival of light in the middle of winter and I think we should all enter into the festive spirit in whatever way we wish regardless of religion or culture. What is important is we all take some time each year to think of how to be good to our fellow man and to be happy. What I witnessed on the tube this evening was insignificant compared to the tragic events in Pakistan but also was the direct opposite of the festive spirit but it just makes me want to strive to spread happiness and kindness further. Don't over rationalise Christmas - don't try and make it more than it is, a time for giving, a time for joy and above all a time for kindness. Be nice to someone tomorrow and make up for those wankers on the tube - do something good and try to counterbalance the psychos who assassinated Benazir Bhutto. So with that in mind I give you the happiest festive song of all to inspire you: