We're just a few days away from Christmas, and I'm pretty sure my contract says I'm supposed to write something this week that will leave you filled with the holiday spirit. Or at least have you dabbing your eyes over some Tiny Tim-style poignancy.

Ever the contrarian, I'll do neither. Instead, I'll tell you why you shouldn't bother sending a Christmas card to an injured GI.

But first, the set-up: Last week I received an e-mail that suggested I send a Christmas card, addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier," to Walter Reed hospital, the Washington, D.C. medical center where war casualties are sent for treatment. It was one of those e-mail messages that keeps getting forwarded, so it has probably circled the globe a few times by now. In fact, after just a few minutes of sleuthing, I discovered that the same plea went out last Christmas, too.

But the e-mail message came from a woman I know, whose husband was happy to get cards and letters while serving in the Marine Corps during Desert Storm (aka "Iraq Part One -- No Muss, No Fuss"). There was also a small-world aspect to this that made it appealing: The husband/veteran, whose name is Gordon Bell, crossed paths with me in high school. We also later attended the same university and even knew some of the same people. But we'd never met until last year.

In short, I was inclined to take the e-mail at face value, considering it came from somebody I know and because I'm a sucker for any gesture of kindness toward members of the military. So I was ready to share the address with you so you could send your own cards, and so I could observe the terms of my employment by getting the requisite feel-good seasonal article into print.

Then I remembered Craig Shergold.

Shergold is an English lad who some years ago developed childhood cancer. He decided he wanted to get into Guinness World Records for having received the most greeting cards ever. Well, he got his wish. Thanks to an endlessly circulating e-mail plea, tens of millions of them arrived. His family eventually had to stop mail delivery to their home and move to a new address.

I thought it might be wise to check with Walter Reed hospital before I loosed this e-mail demon on the reading public. Good thing I did.

"We don't need any more cards," a spokeswoman said. (You may select you own adverb here: She said it forcefully, vigorously or conclusively. All are correct.) Apparently, life at the hospital has gotten waaay too Shergoldian.

But it turns out that Walter Reed officials are happy for you to send things other than cards. You see, many of the hospital's customers are people who were evacuated from Iraq or Afghanistan rather quickly. They didn't have time to pack for the trip. Besides, being blown out of a Humvee tends to focus your mind on tasks other than packing. Staying alive, for instance.

So if you're inclined to send something to a recovering American soldier, how about a prepaid phone card, gas card or a book of postage stamps? Those items are actually useful, while Christmas greetings are ... well, they're nice. Except niceness by the ton can turn into a problem. Just ask the sick English lad.

Send donations to:

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Medical Family Assistance Center

Bldg. 2, 3rd floor, Room 3E01

6900 Georgia Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20307-5001

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