In Australia last month, Westaff told their aspiring Santas to say “ha, ha, ha” instead of “Ho, Ho, Ho.” Why? There are some conflicting answers about why. Some say it’s because “ho” is a derogatory term for a woman. Others, including those at Westaff, say it’s because saying “Ho, Ho, Ho” in a deep voice scares children. Either way I call bullshit.

Santa was proclaiming “Ho, Ho, Ho” long before rappers started calling women a “ho” in their lyrics. Everybody knows Santa says “Ho, Ho, Ho.” Asking Santa to not say “Ho, Ho, Ho” is like asking Paris Hilton to stop saying, “That’s hot.” It’s a staple of our pop culture whether we like it or not. Are there seriously women walking away from Santa’s village at the mall, all in an uproar, yelling “Santa just called me a ho. Three times!” And if you’re old enough to know that ho is a derogatory term for a woman, what the heck are you doing on Santa’s lap?

And Santa’s deep “Ho, Ho, Ho” scares children? Santa, period, scares small children. He’s a big guy with a long, scraggly beard who walks around in a bright red suit with white fuzz on the ends. We’re used to people in jeans and a t-shirt. Santa’s get-up is a bit much. Plus he’s a stranger. Duh! Our parents always told us to be weary of strangers who try to give us candy and here’s this guy asking us what we want and trying to give us a candy cane. It’s all a bit intimidating. It has nothing to do with his deep “Ho, Ho, Ho.” And I seriously doubt having him laugh in their faces with his high pitched “ha, ha, ha” is going to make children feel any better. He’s supposed to be a really old man. Not a twelve year old girl.

Some people, and I’m looking at you Westaff, need to get a life. Stop messing with our Santas or there will be coal in your stocking this Christmas morning.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 9:39 pm and is filed under In my humble opinion. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.