My parents not only pulled the Santa deception, they used a service whereby an actor in a costume would come and deliver their presents as an intermediary. This left me with a longer lasting, but much less absurd version of the Santa myth; I knew that the stuff about flying around in a sleigh and climbing down chimneys had to be wrong, but I didn’t see anything wrong with the basic idea. I never thought about theb scale involved, but if I had, I probably would’ve concluded that “Santa” was a role, not a person, and that there was someone in that role for each participating community.
jimrandomh’s mom here. That’s not exactly right. It’s a town wide program, all volunteer. Parents drop off gifts at a central location on a set day. Routes are planned, each with a driver and a volunteer. The gifts are delivered on Christmas Eve. Santa comes and rings the doorbell and comes in, often posing for photos. I’m pretty sure we only did it once, when he was 4 or 5, but it made a lasting impression, he knew that Santa came to the house and was not his dad, as his dad was right there.
Thanks. Yes, jimrandomh is definitely American, so unless David came to one of the Singularity Institute’s conferences and met him there, they wouldn’t have met.
Not really. He told me about the board. When I told him I looked at his posts occasionally, he suggested I register and post myself. Then, when I told him that his post about our town’s Santa program was slightly inaccurate, he said I could clarify it if I wanted to. I pointed out that I’d have to reveal my identity and he didn’t have a problem with it!
You must misunderstand why my name is “playtherapist”- which is understandable. I really am a playtherapist. I do therapy with children, using play. I get paid for playing with doll houses, sand trays, play dough, action figures, etc. with troubled little children. I help them to work out their anxiety, anger, feelings of loss, etc. using play.
My parents not only pulled the Santa deception, they used a service whereby an actor in a costume would come and deliver their presents as an intermediary. This left me with a longer lasting, but much less absurd version of the Santa myth; I knew that the stuff about flying around in a sleigh and climbing down chimneys had to be wrong, but I didn’t see anything wrong with the basic idea. I never thought about theb scale involved, but if I had, I probably would’ve concluded that “Santa” was a role, not a person, and that there was someone in that role for each participating community.
jimrandomh’s mom here. That’s not exactly right. It’s a town wide program, all volunteer. Parents drop off gifts at a central location on a set day. Routes are planned, each with a driver and a volunteer. The gifts are delivered on Christmas Eve. Santa comes and rings the doorbell and comes in, often posing for photos. I’m pretty sure we only did it once, when he was 4 or 5, but it made a lasting impression, he knew that Santa came to the house and was not his dad, as his dad was right there.
Upvoted for sheer weight of online pwnage. This is worse than when both my mothers discovered my LiveJournal.
p.s. Are you someone who my son has met live or just an online friend?
No, just here :-)
Which leads to the interesting question, what do we mean by ‘here’? Can’t be very much like the normal usage...
David Gerard is a well-known UK Wikipedian, and I have the impression jimrandomh is American, so probably the latter.
Thanks. Yes, jimrandomh is definitely American, so unless David came to one of the Singularity Institute’s conferences and met him there, they wouldn’t have met.
Not really. He told me about the board. When I told him I looked at his posts occasionally, he suggested I register and post myself. Then, when I told him that his post about our town’s Santa program was slightly inaccurate, he said I could clarify it if I wanted to. I pointed out that I’d have to reveal my identity and he didn’t have a problem with it!
I really must say, your name is hilarious.
You must misunderstand why my name is “playtherapist”- which is understandable. I really am a playtherapist. I do therapy with children, using play. I get paid for playing with doll houses, sand trays, play dough, action figures, etc. with troubled little children. I help them to work out their anxiety, anger, feelings of loss, etc. using play.
With unfortunate implications, if spaces are incorrectly added.
A Teaching Assistant from one of Fubar’s schools? Infidel!