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Mon 11 Nov, 2002 07:33 am
On Saturday, we had the annual Christmas pageant here. This is a huge affair, with a long and hallowed tradition, and is the joy and delight of every Adelaide child.
There is a long procession, with all manner of elaborate floats, and it marks the beginning of the Christmas season.
At the very end of the affair comes Santa, himself (sigh) - with his twelve prancing reindeer and his huge sleigh. Every child knows this is the real Santa, and all the others that they will see dotted around the landscape are but deputies.
This year, just as Santa was about to set off on his journey around the city, he collapsed and slumped to the floor of his sleigh. A horrified gasp ran through the large crowd assembled at the start of the procession.
A colleague of mine, who volunteers to do First Aid at these things, was (as is his wont), in the thick of things. He was the first line in the chain of medical assistance for the stricken Santa.
He saw the great man fall and radioed to base that Santa had fainted and would require an ambulance - he knew that this would take a while to get there through the Pageant stricken city. He waited to hear that his call was received, before running to offer first aid. No reply. Another call - no answer - an irritated call - to be greeted with sounds of derision and lack of belief at the other end.
Finally he convinced despatch that the unthinkable had happened, and ran, elf-like, to Santa's aid. Sadly, the road of his good intentions ended ignominously at a fall at the first - literal - fence, which, according to him, resulted in near emasculation.
Through his agony, he saw Santa struggle to his feet - to the relief of a few hundred stricken children and their aghast parents. Assisted by a number of his little helpers, Santa walked out of sight of the audience and, apparently, emerged triumphant and ready for his magical journey after a surprisingly short rest.
The former Santa was rushed, quietly, to hospital where he is, apparently, recovering from a heart attack.
Now - Santa was ready to move off - however, his float was a good fifteen minutes late - and a wave of fear was moving through Adelaide's munchkins as the Magic Castle - which every child knows is the herald of Santa's sleigh - was followed by nothing but an eerie emptiness.
Such trauma could not be allowed! Santa's reindeer took off at an alarming rate, as, beard and red robes flapping in the wind of his motion, santa rushed to fill the gap.
Small children, used to a leisurely bypass and a long wave and a twinkle, saw but an antler bedecked red white-bearded blur and the vanishing echo of a ho ho ho Merry christmas as Santa flashed past until he was able to run down his magical quarry and resume a more leisurely and accustomed pace.
Despite everything, Santa Claus had made it to town.
Re: Father Christmas (Santa) collapses - rushed to hospital!
dlowan wrote:At the very end of the affair comes Santa, himself (sigh) - with his twelve prancing reindeer and his huge sleigh.
Twelve reindeer? Wot sort of Santa sham are they running down there? Everyone knows there are only eight!
http://www.claus.com/reindeer/index.shtml
Santa won't be the same after having that heart attack. His doc is going to tell him to lose some weight..
EIGHT reindeer, who knew?
Other than Fishin', of course!
(Whining .... well, I haven't BEEN to one of those things for a looooooong time! I prolly couldn't even count then!)
I try to keep in touch with my inner child.
Where does Rudolph come in, then, Fishin' ?
Donner and Blitzen, Comet, Vixen, Cupid and Nixon . . . i can't memember all the names . . .
"Rudolph" is a fraud perpetrated by those who seek to undermine the true spirit of Christmas through crass commercialization.
The reality is that Rudolph is a just a regular reindeer with a red light bulb Scotch taped onto his nose. They are using Rudolph as a freak show in order to make a profit. Every Rudolph movie and Rudolph song and Rudolph stuffed animal, now I know this will be a shock, but every one of those items is completely....FICTIONAL!!
Comet, Cupid, Vixen, Dancer, Prancer, Blitzen, Dasher and Donner are the true heros of the story. Don't be fooled by lesser reindeer!
HEAVENS TO MERGATROIDS, we've been hoaxed ! ! !
(ps. somebody tell the administrator to fix the color function--you turn on a color, and it is automatically turned off before you use it. I play hell chasin' the little sucker down . . . )
ALL reindeer are equal! Rudolph cannot help his servitude. Part not one reindeer from his siblings! Solidarity forever!
Hi dlowan.
Aw, poor old Santa!
And such trauma for the children! (I wonder how their parents explained the incident to them?)
Has he recovered
Reminds me of another Santa story -- not nearly so serious, but a bit funnier. It used to be, at the end of our Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC, Santa's sleigh would stop directly in front of the Macy's store in Herald Square and he would exit the sleigh and walk into the store, presumably to check out their toy department. This is no longer the case (at least not what is shown on the television).
For some years back, as Santa exited his sleigh and began his walk towards the store, his pants fell down in full view of the entire television audience. Alas, we tv viewers are no longer permitted to see what happens to Santa at the end of the parade and must use our imaginations to visualize (a task made more enjoyable for those of us who remember that wonderful day).
sad news on poor santa - I heard the other day that the fellow who had the heart attack died...............
waaaaaaah!
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