Anyone who doesn't finally get into their stride now is in for hectic hours just before Christmas Eve, crowded department stores and nerve-wracking hustle and bustle in the last sales hours in the morning on Christmas Eve. Children no longer count down in weeks and Advent Sundays, but in days, soon to be hours: Wishes shine, hopes beckon. It has become even colder, every day the same question in the weather report: will there be a white Christmas this year? Every conscience is bothering: are all the postcards sent? All presents complete? Has no one been forgotten?