The Day Before Journal
December 24, 2023
It’s that time of year again. Our vacation has been over since October 31st. As soon as the red-suited old man sees those Christmas decorations going up, that’s it, no more goofing off.
Do you know what it is like lugging that stupid naughty/nice list around for him? He can never sit in one spot. Always on the move, yelling at this elf and that elf about what they’re doing wrong.
“Fix this!”
“Change that!”
“Go to the mines; we’re running out of coal.”
You’d think that politicians grew on trees. I’ve never seen so many stockings needing coal. It gets worse every year.
We’re lucky if we can catch a glimmer of sleep.
The vacations are nice. Basking in the sun at some tropical resort for nine months, constantly being catered to. The only red you see is the sunburn on all those not wearing sunscreen.
But come holiday time, it’s never-ending.
Wishes for altruist things like ending hunger, world peace, and climate change are few and far between (though this year, there have been more wishes for world peace), not that the old guy would even consider those.
It’s all about material things. And not small things like in years past. It used to be – give me a doll, a wagon, a LEGO set, or a board game. Now it’s big things: give me a robot, a Tesla car, an AI Universal Construction set, or an Apple Virtual Reality unit (And they are not even built yet!).
Do you know what it takes to procure and assemble those items? It’s like building an Ikea city, with only picture directions.
I would write more about my day, but today is the night before the big honcho goes out and delivers those things. That means gathering all the presents, putting them in bags, lugging them over to his sled, and finding space to put the bags. No easy task.
He may have the magic touch and be able to be everywhere in the world instantly and fit down narrow chimneys, but trust me, we work in real-time. And he gets all the cookies and beverages (Milk? Think again; those parents are glad to give him something stronger to thank him for bailing them out).
Till tomorrow when I write again, or next week; I really need some sleep.
Signed,
Elf 3.141592 (yeah, like he would give me a real name!)
