My encounters with the Santa kind

It's been ages since I got anything in the Christmas stocking besides the usual lump of coal which it seems had more or less become a regular feature. I guess I must have offended Santa's sensibilities somewhere along my journey in life. Lol. Oh, I tried to be good and kind, but still the lump of coal showed up at Christmas time. Bahh Humbug. So, I had quit waiting for a maricale to happen which I thought might never happen.

So, what happened yesterday took me by surprise and in the end I had tons of fun. All of us went to the mall for some fun since it was Christmas Eve and all of us were in the festive mood. The mall was fully decorated for the festive season and it looked really nice. We did not enter from the malls main entrance but chose instead to enter from one of the big retail shop entrances. Besides the usual staff, guess who else was standing near the entrance to greet the people who were entering the store. It was none other except Santa himself. All little kids who entered the store were treated to a lollipop and a sitting on his lap while he patiently listened to their whispered requests and he ended it with a belly shaking laugh and Ho Ho Ho. It was some sight watching the little kids at times very hesitantly approach him and go through the ritual since most kids are not familiar with the Santa figure. Some little children who are familiar with the Santa folklore went right up confidently and demanded their pound of flesh. This one little girl in particular was some sight. The moment the 4 year old girl entered the store with her parents, she hollered on top of her voice, "SANTA'S HERE" and ran towards him with as much speed as her tiny legs could propel her. She hopped right up to his lap, grabbed his white beard and whispered her demands into his ears quiet conspiractly. When he looked back at her with a bemused smile on his face, she gave him a stern look, yanked his beard just hard enough to make him squeal and told him "I want my presents or else I am coming back next year". Santa was totally floored and had a real belly shaking laugh. In the end, every kid got what they wanted in case the store stocks the item plus the lollipop, otherwise they got a lollipop only. This system seemed to work and all kids went away satisfied and happy. But I was feeling mighty grumpy at this time. I think all Santa have good hearing, since this store Santa must have overheard me when I whispered to my fellow shoppers "I wish I was a kid again so that I could have my photo taken with Santa, sit on his lap and get a lollipop". He called me right over, looked me up and down with a bemused smile on his face. I growled "Wassup up Santa or else I'll do the same to your beard which the little girl did". You are mighty big for a lollipop, my son as he handed over not just one, but 2 lollipops. You see, around the same time I got my lollipop, a bunch of fully grown college kids had wandered over and had captured Santa and asking for a lollipop. I was afraid to sit on his lap, since this Santa was a mighty skinny chap with hardly any meat on his body. I guess the long journey from the North Pole must have really worn him out. Lol. It was a sight to see all right. Not the skinny Santa, but us grown guys sucking on lollipops and looking as satisfied as little babies.

I left Santa behind, exited the store and entered the mall. It was fully decked up inside also and there seemed to be some activity at every corner. There was the usual holiday crowd and everyone seemed to be in a merry joyous mood irrespective of what religion the people were. After wandering around for sometime, we went to the top floor where all the food stalls are located. It's been ages since the whole family had ventured out together and we really enjoyed ourselves. We seemed to there for what seemed many hours and finally decided to take a leave when we realized how dark it had become outside. We had a good time and really enjoyed ourselves. As we were leaving the mall, we saw that Santa was also making an exit since his duty was over. He did look mighty sore, tired and worn out. As, he was fumbling with his car keys, I walked up to him and said "Hi Santa". He was a bit startled as he wasn't expecting any repeat customers I guess. I offered him a big cup of hot coffee from a coffee stall located nearby. I really hate to see a tired sleepy man driving home. Plus, he had really made my day a few hours back not just by offering me 2 free lollipops, but also by making me laugh by going through all his silly antics. I guess the only thing that saddens me was the heightened security at all public places like malls which attract huge volumes of people. These militants and terrorists won't let us live in peace and they are always looking for opportunities for destroying the communal harmony, killing people and looking for ways to overthrow the law of the land. The constant frisking is really irritating but necessary it seems during these troubled times. The funny part is the security guards look extremely puny. A little puff of wind might blow them away. Lol...But it seems like the mall management has got a little wiser. Nowadays, they have reinforced these puny guards with mean looking, well built, tall, broad sullen looking bouncers. I really don't think these guys know how to smile. Lol. Even though these security guys are lax in some areas while performing their security checks and we did mention it to them a few times, it was a fun experience and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Hope you did also.