by Michael Stevenson 12/10/2016
This morning, as I did a bit of grocery shopping at my favorite food market here in Providence, Rhode Island USA, we shoppers were treated to a surprise visit from Santa Claus, much to the delight of the many children on hand. This particular Santa certainly looked the part, with a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
Oddly, this Supermarket Santa spoke with a proper British accent, sounding very much like “King George IV” from The Crown (as played by British actor Jared Harris.) I suggest, if one decides to play Santa as a Brit, please give Father Christmas a working-class London cockney accent or ship-building Liverpool accent. Today (more than ever) we don’t want American children confusing the magnanimous magic of Santa Claus with the execrable machinations of autocracy. Give me a Santa who celebrates charity as well as democracy, and talks like a regular limey – or even better, like one of the Bowery Boys.
Pas De Merde 