14 December 2011
Coming home from school with his mother, one crisp December afternoon, Sammy was delighted to see that a letter was waiting for him. As he rarely received mail, Sammy paused a moment to speculate who it was from. There was no stamp in the corner, but there was a return address in the corner.
13 Reindeer Grove, Lapland, The North Pole
"Santa!" Sammy exclaimed, rushing to show his mother, who was putting groceries away. "Look, Santa wrote back!" Sammy's mother took the letter, and examined it carefully. "Wow. You are a lucky boy. Santa rarely writes back to anyone. In fact, I bet you are the first one." "You think? I wonder what he says?" "Well, why don't you open it?" Sammy opened the letter. Inside was a single white sheet, adorned with the most florid handwriting. Also inside the envelope was Sammy's three page long wish list to Santa. Sammy let out a sigh of relief, He gave it to his mother a week before, but had worried that she had forgotten to post it. "Mom! He read it." "Well, what does he say?" Sammy's mother said. "I haven't gotten that far yet." "Here" she said, pulling out a chair from the kitchen table, "Sit down and read it. I'll make you a sandwich." Sammy sat on the chair, and laid the letter on the table, flattening it out with his palms. He began to read.
"Dear Samuel, This letter is in reference to your recent letter, dated 10th of December. I regret to inform you, that in this current economic climate, I shall be forced to deny your requested items. In Lapland, all my elves have recently gone on Strike for higher pay, and the scarcities of resources means I have had to downscale business considerably. While I was never in the business of giving for the money, the profit margins have decreased in recent years, and it is now clear, that my current business model of giving presents for no financal return is untenable. You must remember I do have others to think of; Mrs. Claus and my 200 plus workforce. It would be unfair to deny them their pension, just so you can have a high priced leisure product, like a new games console."
Sammy's mother placed the sandwich in front of Sammy, as he read shocked. He began to chew his ham and cheese sandwich nervously.
"That is not say, that you shall receive no presents. Based on your consumer profile, I have selected a range of toys and surprises that are both fun and sensibly priced. I have consulted with your parents, and they agreed that they would result in a more merry filled Christmas. However these are not gifts, more transactions. In exchange for a new computer game or action figure, you will need to preform chores and tasks. Like helping you mother clean the dishes, tidying your room without having to be asked, or not leaving your bike in the hallway for your father to trip over every time he comes home from a long day at work. If you meet the required levels of "Good" behaviour. It is entirely possible you may receive presents this year, perhaps even some of your requested items."
"Thank you for reading, and I remind you this re-engineering of our supplier/consumer relationship is only achievable if you put the effort in. Why, I believe your mother just made you a sandwich, and you left crumbs and a dirty plate on the table. I recommend you wash that plate immediately. A good start is half the work, as Mrs. Claus is known to say. Your Sincerely, Santa Nicholas Claus
P.S I see that you have not been eating your broccoli at dinner, I'm not impressed."
Sammy glanced at his empty plate. he immediately brought the plate to the sink, and washed it with one hand, as he grasped the letter in the other. (he used a chair, as he was not yet tall enough to reach the sink). His mother walked in with great surprise at this sight.
"Sammy, I've never seen you wash dishes before." She said with great shock. "Santa said I'll need to do chores in order to get presents." Sammy's mother took the letter from his hand. She nodded sagely as she read through it. "Harsh but fair. We are after all in a difficult economic climate. Charities like Santa get hit hard in these times." Sammy began to scrub harder. "Look dear, I'll finish that. I'll tell what we will do. Your father and I will talk to Santa on the phone tonight, and we will work out just what you need to do in order to get into his good books." Sammy hugged his mother and said "Thank You! I didn't know getting presents could be such hard work.". The next day, a chore timetable arrived in the post. Sammy had a productive Christmas, and a clean room to put his presents into.
Dear Sammy, From Santa • Opuss № I