Relax: 2005

She came out of the crowd from nowhere and moved to the head of the line waiting to see Santa. She brought a young boy with her--about eight-years-old. "I need a picture, Santa," she said as she proceeded to place her bewildered son on his lap. "Put your head down," she said to her son. He obeyed only to hear, "Not that far down. She moved closer to him and taking his small face in her hand she moved it this way and that way as he tensed with the attention. " Patting him on the top of the head she commanded, "Relax! Relax!" Then she returned to positioning his face just right. A smile was hard to come by but the picture was taken. Then she had a daughter and another son. More pictures, during which she leaned over to me and whispered, "I like chocolate," referring to the bundles of chocolate Santa was handing out to the children. It seemed that none of her children had a smile or two in them. She left and Santa resumed seeing the children who were patiently waiting in line. During the next hour she returned twice for more pictures. Where was crowd control? As Santa left she followed him out to the parking lot with her family for more pictures. Someone needs to tell this poor woman, "Relax! Relax!"

Mrs. Claus