Looking a lot like Christmas
Why I'm no Santa substitute. Plus: CBD eatery gets a less obtrusive soundtrack, and where charity begins in the River City
When I grew my current full white beard, a commenter on my silly YouTube site dubbed me “discount store Santa”. I don’t think it was meant to be a compliment.
But it did get me thinking about the wisdom of growing that beard. I have one friend who says she prefers me without it, but other people seem to like it and want me to keep it permanently and exploit it annually.
I nearly shaved it off before I went on my holiday to the Philippines six weeks ago, but I decided not to because I didn’t want to disappoint a friend (let’s call him James) with whom I shall soon catch up for annual drinks.
(I’m also glad I didn’t shave before my OS trip because the sight of a fat foreigner with a Santa beard really amused a lot of Filipinos, who love Christmas so much that they start celebrating in October.)
You can say what you like about Santa — and from my travels I can tell you that he’s popular in places you might not expect — but his presence has loomed large in my live, even as I grow old.
My friend Eric played Santa at department stores a few times and, from what I know, he enjoyed it immensely.
My friend Spencer wrote a song about being Santa at Christmas. I’d link to the video, but it seems to have disappeared. Update: Thanks to Evan for finding it here:
Other friends had the foresight to take pictures of their children each year with Santa, so they now have an irreplaceable series of images chronicling three decades of family life.
And just this week, my former newspaper colleague Brian Crisp has written a fun piece for the ABC about playing Santa on the Gold Coast.
In it he mentions that part of the job is to fulfill orders for family photos. I wonder whether he feels a little weird about that fact that his picture now takes pride of place on mantles and bookshelves, and in photo albums, of strangers across South East Queensland.
A lot of people, including some close family members, have suggested I suit up one year and offer my services to a department store or charity event.
Don’t hold your breath, folks. While I don’t mind being mistaken for the jolly old fellow, when it comes to playing Santa for real … well, I don’t think I like Christmas enough to do that. Or people.
P.S. On a related topic, it wouldn’t be Christmas without at least one story about a family forced to shut down or scale back their festive lights display due to complaints from the neighbours. Most stories about the latest Brisbane incident are behind paywalls, but here’s Sky News presenter Paul Murray getting quietly upset about it.
Musical chairs
On my recent visit to the food court at Queens Plaza in the CBD, I heard something strange. Actually, I didn’t hear it — and that’s what was strange. It took me a while to twig, but I’m delighted to report that, after goodness-knows-how-many years, they’ve replaced the metal-legged chairs that used to scrape across the tiles, creating an annoying noise, with sturdy plastic ones that don’t. Good move!
Security blanket
I was going to grab a sandwich at the 7-Eleven in Albert Street on Tuesday morning last week but, just before I got to the shop, a disheveled man dragging a blanket walked in before me.
As he stood at the counter, the blanket spread out behind him like the train of a wedding dress into the doorway and out on to the mall.
It would have been impossible for me to enter the store without stepping on the blanket, and I thought that unwise.
I was bemused and slightly annoyed until it occurred to me that the blanket was, quite likely, his most precious possession — something that made sleeping rough just that little less uncomfortable.
Especially at this time of year when there’s a lot of talk about good will and charity, it’s worth sparing more than just a thought about the plight of those less fortunate.