Dennis and Santa

This is Dennis. I hope Dennis will forgive me for sending his story around the world, and I apologise for any error in the tale......

Dennis has retired once. Dennis' good lady decided he should be gainfully employed rather than cluttering up the family home and pointed him in the direction of nice gentle(ish) little driving job - doing home deliveries for Waitrose.

You'll note Dennis is a very high class sort of person. If you're going to drive around for a supermarket it simply won't do to be seen in a Tesco branded vehicle. Waitrose or nothing, thank you.

Dennis has been doing this job for a short while now and this true story happened only this month.

The thing with small delivery vehicles is that access to your cargo is via the back doors. Dennis knew this - the training course has been thorough.

What the training course failed to prepare him for was the rear doors slamming shut and locking him in as he sorted out the next delivery. Oops.

Perhaps the mobile phone would allow him to call for help. Nope - it's in the driving cab; no access from back here.

After some time, banging on the inner walls of his immobile (hand brakes are good things) prison to no avail, the lights inside started to dim. now he's not only trapped, but in darkness as well.

Eventually, after more banging and shouting, an answering bang on the back door was accompanied with "Hang on, mate, we'll get you out!"

Needless to say, it was but the work of a moment for the passing Good Samaritan to open the back doors and fling them wide open.

Dennis was taken aback, for standing there was his rescuer - Father Christmas himself. And his wife - also in full red garb. It's October - surely it's  reasonable to have expected rescue from that quarter only in Advent.