Merry Christmas

Today I received a confirmation letter for a Christmas gala that me and my partner were hounoured to be invited to by the chaste "Company Them." It goes something like this (original in Dutch):

"Dear Mr. DA and Mrs EM,

With gratification we learned that that you wil attend the gala event, sponsord by "Company Them" in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. You are expected at 18.00h ..- bla bla - .. folowed by a Royal Christmas diner."

Then a paragraph on vip valet parking and directions towards the Concertgebouw which I won't translate. So far so good..but then..

"Would you arrive with a personal chauffeur, or are you accompanied by personal security guards, then we can accomodate your security employees and offer them a luxuous meal. Would you like to utilize this or have additional requirements regarding your security, we kindly request you to fill out enclosed form and return it to "Company Them."

I'll skip the paragraphs on any further questions, cordial greetz and dress code.

Apparently this is the world we live in today. Amsterdam is recentlly said to be identified as the next city to fundamentalistic attacks. Many of our opinion makers, politicians and VIP's (not me) need protection to severe threats.

Merry Christmas