Christmas is coming. I am bracing myself for those photocopied holiday letters from so-called friends.

I want to tell these people: "If you can't spare a couple of minutes to write a short personal note in your Christmas card, just sign your names and write to me in April, when you aren't so busy."

What makes me sick is how the letters go on and on about how great the person's life is. Don't they have problems like normal people? Every year, these letters read like this:

"John got another promotion and is grateful for each new challenge. Although he works long hours, he still found time to paint the house, build a kitchen and coach Bobby's soccer team to first place. My part-time job teaching children to read is so rewarding and the boys and girls call me Aunt Betsy. I also took up quilt-making and Chinese cooking and in my spare time, I teach aerobics and serve meals to the homeless."

Next Christmas I plan to write my own holiday letter. It will go something like this.

"Budget cuts at Ed's company resulted in many layoffs and he has been unemployed for ten months. The mortgage company calls on a weekly basis to threaten foreclosure but I am not worried because I was offered a part-time job at Burger King. Little Jimmy is a member of the Deadly Snakes motorcyle gang and Suzy had her nose pierced and looks like a freak."

Life is not a bowl of cherries. Those who send these letters should have a serious think before putting them in the letter box.

-Victor Romaniuk, Brighton