Stop! No need to set your mailbox on fire! Those Christmas letters you're getting this time of year — the extremely happy ones from people you haven't heard from since December 2007 — are not to be taken at face value! They're like those stamps with Elvis on them from strange, tiny countries. Worthless!

If you happen to receive one of those letters around the time you are opening a can of sardines to share with your cat (who's sick), remember: No one's life is really like t ...

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