Village Shepherd

I remember, as a child, the loathsome task of writing thank you letters after every birthday and Christmas. I was let off on Christmas day and on my birthday, but in both cases on the very next day I had to sit at a table and stay there until all the thank you letters were duly written. It seemed to take forever and I moaned and groaned, but my mother would always say, "If you want to receive presents you must write and thank people.