Today sees "Santa Workshop" up on 101 Short Stories - I love this site - they like my work! The story behind this one came around Christmas time of course, although it's theme is timeless.
Christmas gets lost in shopping fever and gift giving is a capitalist's dream. It's also a time when everyone suddenly gets charitable and donates to the cause of their choice. This set me thinking about someone who wanted to donate more than their cash. This year, my Children reached the stage where they are beginning to question the existence of Santa too. These things combined put me in mind of perhaps, a retired gentleman who wishes to relieve the suffering of child labour in sweatshops. Now what if he, running on the premise that Santa is a good guy and that all children love Santa, cultivated his look to resemble Santa? He'd have in mind those Christmas card images of Santa bouncing kiddies on his knee, no doubt. There are children who have know idea who Santa is or even who he is supposed to be. What if those forced to create plastic Santas day-in, day-out, were confronted with the real thing? I think being faced with a real life Santa would be a nightmare come true.
I hope I haven't fallen into the trap I wanted to highlight; that we all too often view the world around us clouded by our own cultural perspective and more importantly, it is vital that our own desires are not fulfilled at the expense of others' freedom.
Christmas gets lost in shopping fever and gift giving is a capitalist's dream. It's also a time when everyone suddenly gets charitable and donates to the cause of their choice. This set me thinking about someone who wanted to donate more than their cash. This year, my Children reached the stage where they are beginning to question the existence of Santa too. These things combined put me in mind of perhaps, a retired gentleman who wishes to relieve the suffering of child labour in sweatshops. Now what if he, running on the premise that Santa is a good guy and that all children love Santa, cultivated his look to resemble Santa? He'd have in mind those Christmas card images of Santa bouncing kiddies on his knee, no doubt. There are children who have know idea who Santa is or even who he is supposed to be. What if those forced to create plastic Santas day-in, day-out, were confronted with the real thing? I think being faced with a real life Santa would be a nightmare come true.
I hope I haven't fallen into the trap I wanted to highlight; that we all too often view the world around us clouded by our own cultural perspective and more importantly, it is vital that our own desires are not fulfilled at the expense of others' freedom.
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