Give and Take

In life we both give and take. However, most of us can be judged, on balance, as either givers or takers. And, to me, this is a pretty fair measure of the man or woman. We tend to like givers and distance ourselves from takers.

Can I therefore give you my take on a few notables who, on balance, seem to belong in each category ... past, present and fictional?

Givers: restaurant chefs, 12/25 Ebenezer Scrooge, the UK, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Carter (possibly too much giving), capitalists, Billy Graham, Walt Disney, Jesus Christ, Oprah, Pope John, Fred (Mr.) Rogers, the enlightened Grinch, my wife

Takers: restaurant diners, 12/24 Ebenezer Scrooge, the EU, Hillary Clinton, Fidel Castro, socialists, Al Gore, Whitey Bulger, the Kennedy clan, Mark Zickerberg, George Soros, Pope Francis, Nicolas Maduro, the early Grinch, Alec Baldwin, me