Thursday, December 09, 2010

An incorrect Santa?

We read:
"Santa Claus has been canned from Macy's, and he's anything but jolly about it. His fans aren't happy, either. And there are many.

John Toomey, known for 20 years at the Union Square Macy's in San Francisco as "Santa John," was told Saturday he'll have to take his "ho, ho, hos" elsewhere because an adult couple complained about a joke he cracked.

The joke has been in his Santa bag for decades. But after thousands of tellings, the 68-year-old retired caretaker for the elderly finally hit the wrong recipients - apparently an older woman and her husband, who considered it inappropriate.

Toomey - who stays in Oroville most summers and winters in San Francisco while he does the kiddie-on-the-knee gig - said he'd never had complaints before about the joke, which he saves for the occasional grown-up who visits him.

"When I ask the older people who sit on my lap if they've been good and they say, 'Yes,' I say, 'Gee, that's too bad,' " Toomey said Monday. "Then, if they ask why Santa is so jolly, I joke that it's because I know where all the naughty boys and girls live."

The kids who sit on his lap, he said, get only his trademark laugh and questions about what toys they want.

Source

The culture of complaint is getting out of hand. In this case both the complainers and those who took it seriously are screwed up -- but what do you expect of San Francisco, I guess.

9 comments:

Spurwing Plover said...

So just becuase a couple of sour pusses whine about a joke santa told he cant come back? What wrong when two old grumps can now dissapoint everybody. Frankly they need to appoligise to st nick

Anonymous said...

Keep in mind that this is Mexifornia, a place where two people can disrupt the lives of 300 million, and get away with it! And what of all the people who would find the complaining couple's presence to be offensive. Will the couple then be barred from being in public? Equality? Obviously not in the Peoples Republic of Mexifornia.

Anonymous said...

i for one will never go into macy's again..

Anonymous said...

Just another part of the lefts ongoing attack on Christianity.

Anonymous said...

Here's another true look at the real California.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2010/12/berkeley-may-pass-resolution-honoring-army-private-who-gave-class

Anonymous said...

3:14PM Since when has the jolly Santa character had anything to do with Christianity?

Geoffrey Sturdy said...

anon 3:14

Santa Claus = Sinterklaas. = St Nicholas
re
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Sinterklaas. He was a 4th century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.[8] He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari, wanting to enter the profitable pilgrimage industry of the times, mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Christian Saint and procure his remains. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was desecrated by Italian sailors and the spoils, including his relics, taken to Bari[9][10] where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout, thus justifying the economic cost of the expedition. Irish historians say that his remains were moved on again from Italy to Jerpoint Abbey in County Kilkenny, where his grave can still be seen.[11] Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailor, and children to pawnbrokers.[8][12] He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.[13]

Anonymous said...

The American & UK version of Santa has morphed a lot from St Nicholas of present-day Turkey, and now more resembles a Siberian denizen, riding a sledge pulled by reindeer, flying high on magic mushrooms, and entering dwellings thru holes in the roof when snow levels were high too. This Santa character isn't very christian- related at all, but it is the popular one in North America (not a man in bishop's vestments)!

Firebird said...

I hope that couple ends up with coal in their stocking