Do You Believe?

As Christmas approaches, I hear the same question that is asked of people every year- "Do you believe in Santa Claus?" This elicits a variety of responses from different people. Some say, "Santa Claus is just a myth, a fairy tale, made up to make children behave." (is he a benevolent boogy man that will give you coal instead of nice gifts if you are bad?) Other people claim that Santa Claus is the quintessential "spirit" of the season, and he is real in the hearts of those who believe. Then there are the true 'children' at heart who hold onto the hope that the "jolly old elf" is in fact a real live being.

Until recently, I held to the second theory, that Santa Claus is the spirit of giving, and lives in and through me. Then again, I'm the eternal optimist when it comes to hoping for and believing in good things. Every Christmas, I concerned myself with making others happy, especially those less fortunate than myself, even if I didn't have much to give. I don't care much for receiving gifts, and meager Christmas holidays are still happy, knowing that I made someone else's Christmas happy.

Just recently, I was doing my grocery shopping at WalMart, and I found myself thinking about the upcoming season, thinking about what resources I had to buy gifts for those few close to me, and browsing through the DVD section for ideas, when I turned caught a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced in the general direction, and nearly did a double-take, for standing not 15 feet away was an elderly gentleman with full white beard and dressed in red. (no, it wasn't a Santa suit, but Red Jacket, and dark red slacks.) He noticed my glance and nodded in my general direction, which I acknowledged in return before returning to my browsing. About five minutes later, after I had my general list ("Gone With the Wind" for my 'Mooey', the New Star Trek movie for both my friend Lisa and my Dad, and a season of Buffy for someone else, plus a few other ideas for others) and I turned to leave, and nearly bumped into the elderly gentleman. I looked at him and apologized, and he, despite it not being quite Thanksgiving, smiled, winked, and wished me a Merry Christmas before turning back to his own shopping. So now, I am left with the question, was it REALLY Santa Claus, or was it just a friendly older gent, who had already gotten into the spirit of the Christmas Season? You may say it was the latter, but the eternal child and optimist in me believes that it was the REAL Santa Claus (especially since I didn't see him there or anywhere else in the store afterwards).