Letters To Santa

Location: United States Postal Service

Date: December 2014

Last year I had participated in this program and it had been a very humbling experience. I had seen hundreds…thousands of letters from kids and families, hoping for a gift from Santa.  It was well within my ability to fulfill many of those wishes and I should have.  I know what it feels like to wake up on Christmas morning and have had a visit from Santa.  All of those children deserve to have that feeling as well.  So there was no doubt in my mind that I would participate again this year. 

I decided to go to the main Post Office during my lunch hour and for whatever reason, I was not in a good mood that day.  I was on the train and I saw a homeless man get in and start making his way down the aisle asking for help.  There was a girl sitting with earphones on and listening to music and as he approached her row, she reached inside her bag and got out a sandwich that she handed to the man.  She then went back to her music and the entire episode had taken not more than a few seconds.  I had been in a hurry to get to the post office and back to work, and a guy had rushed into the train as the doors were about to close, causing a delay of not more than 2 seconds at best.  But with my mood that day it had been enough to annoy me and I had been glaring at him.  We both had seen this gesture of the girl handing over her lunch and we looked at each other and smiled.  At that moment whatever ailment had been bugging me that day vanished and I was ready to go to the post office in the spirit that was required. 

As I went upstairs to the main hall of the post office, I saw that a family had assembled and were sorting through the letters.  Upon seeing me one of them said, “Aah, one more”.  I smiled at them and grabbed a few letters to peruse.  At times I consulted with the family to clarify a few things that the kids wanted, and which were a clear reference to some “pop culture” that I was unaware off.  A woman and a cameraman approached me and she said that they were from some Spanish channel and asked if they could ask me a few questions.  I said sure and they asked why I was participating in this project.  I mentioned how a friend of mine had once said that a person should give their “time, talent or treasure” to the community and I was trying to do so here.  They asked what message I would like to give to their viewers so that they come and I said that the people have to feel from within that they want to participate and not through anything that I would say.

For the boy

That was it as far as the interview was concerned and I went back to sorting through the letters.  Like the previous year, I picked a boy and a girl to support this year and then went to ‘Target’ one evening to look for the presents that they had asked for.  The girl was 4 years old and wanted a “Singing Anna and Elsa” from ‘Frozen’ as well as some learning toys.  She – or her mom - had even pointed out things like ‘Abacus’, which was quite impressive.  The boy was 2 years old and wanted learning toys as well, and something called “Paw Patrol”.  Plus, I noticed in the letter that he had a 2 month old baby brother.  I found a learning toy for the girl and the boy, but that was it since there was nothing there from the other things that they wanted.  I decided to get something for the 2 month old infant baby that the boy had mentioned, and found a teething toy as well as a bib with a saying, “My First Christmas”.

And the girl

I went to the ‘Disney Store’ that was right across and saw that they had the singing dolls that the girl wanted.  They were a bit steep in prize and so I picked one of ‘Elsa’ and as I was going towards the checkout, the store attendant said that these were quite popular and would be sold out soon.  I stopped when I heard this and turned around and picked up the matching ‘Anna’ doll as well.  The little girls shopping list was complete!  There was still a matter of finding the “Paw Patrol” and so I walked over to the other ‘Target’ near my apartment.  I found a bunch of “Paw Patrol” toys there, which are nothing but dogs in law enforcement.  One of the pups barked when you pressed its paw and I picked that for him.

I carried the bags to my office and for the next 10 days I couldn’t find time to mail them.  I had bought some gift wrapping paper and so wrapped them and put inside some boxes that I had also found in the storage closet.  I made some cards for the kids saying that they had been good this year and thus should enjoy these presents.  Finally, just before Christmas, I took these boxes in a cab and arrived back at the familiar post office.  It was funny that the cab driver that I had was extremely kind and even when I arrived at my destination; a passing woman opened the door so that I could get out.  It must be the holiday spirit in the air. 

All ready to go

The post office was full of people who were mailing presents similar to mine and I even saw Wendy from Chicago Cares dropping off some boxes.  I saw a family who had several boxes wrapped with gift paper - in fact they required a cart to bring all of these boxes to the weighing machine.  It was moving to see so much generosity ,and reassuring to know that some aspects of our community are in good hands.  I left after mailing my boxes, once again feeling that I could have…should have done more.  I am very much capable of that, financially and so there is no excuse for not trying to accommodate one more family, one more child.  I really have nothing left to gain or lose anymore and so if it was just a question of spending more money, it’s the easiest of the “time, talent or treasure” things for me to do.  However, I do hope that the boy and girl enjoy their presents, including the little baby brother.  It’s the least anyone can do for them.