Today I read a news article about a local Santa in a mall setting that greatly disturbed me. In Clackamas (Portland, Oregon area) a little girl, Alli and her mom went to see Santa. A tradition that most children and parents enjoy. Their outcome was not what one would have expected during the Holiday Season, and for that, I am greatly saddened and here is why.

Let’s scroll back to the year 1971 or so. I was just a tiny little thing but I clearly remember shopping downtown Eugene with my parents at Christmas time. This was before malls were, well, malls! This was the time in which Sears and Roebuck was a two story affair with noisy escalators and other shops and stores graced a fairly long street. Around the corner and to the right was the “five and dime,” AKA Woolworth’s. The sidewalks sometimes had snow but the trees were lit up with thousands of Christmas lights, Christmas music was playing, windows were painted with Christmas themes, Stores were decked out in tinsel and balls, and the shoppers and clerks were generally of the non-humbug variety. Maybe it was just my childlike faith in humanity that blinded me to the realities of the era, but in my memory, everyone was happy, cheerful, generous and caring; including Santa.

The bell ringers were out, the shoppers were laughing and merry but one person always greeted me the same way, every year, without fail. Santa Claus. I could count on Santa. I knew from the get go that Santa wasn’t real in the sense that he lived in the North Pole and his elves made my Christmas dreams come true. I knew better because my parents chose to tell me the truth from the beginning. But, I knew Santa was real in that I was standing before his red suited self and could feel the softness of his white beard while sharing with him what I wanted that year. He didn’t care of I was rich or poor, he loved me just the same.  Isn’t this what all kids need to know? That there is someone, year after year and without fail, who will be there to listen unconditionally?  Apparently, that is gone too.

Back to Alli in the Clackamas Mall. Alli  will never see Santa the same way next year, and for that, I am so saddened. While the news story is about a Santa who made some poor choices in actions and a company who made some poor choices in their policies, this for me, was about her memories and the magic that was lost that day. Money became MORE important than Alli’s safety (first and foremost), her trust in Santa, her faith in mankind, her dreams, her sense of magic and her outlook on Christmas. This isn’t about religion or politics or even political correctness. This is about a company who refused to allow non-package paying parents/grandparents/nannies/caregivers to take pictures of their children with Santa. My heart is broken for all the Alli’s out there who have had their Christmas magic shattered by this type of behavior.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Alli, I am sorry. I am sorry that the adults in your world have found it acceptable to put money before you. I am sorry that you could not sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you desired for Christmas this year because of their greediness. I am sorry your parents had To the little girl – to go through this with you and watch you be assaulted by Santa, the one man (among many others) who you should be able to trust inexplicably. But remember, he is not real. He is a fake Santa portraying the real Santa that lived centuries ago. What is real and what is fake is something that we all have to come to terms with. What is real for you, is that YOU (and the rest of us) can be Santa’s oo. We can forgive, we can love, cherish, look beyond class, color, race and see the person within; see the good in our fellow men and women, boys and girls. Never lose that magic, never let that faith go.

All the best to you and your future,

Bonnie G.