Sinterklaas

 

I suppose most people don't know that the character of Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas of Myra who was a Christian bishop in the 4th century in what is now Turkey. He was known for his piety and seret gift-giving. The Dutch had a tradition around him but called him Sint-Nicolaas which evolved into Sinterklaas. When Dutch colonists settled in the American colonies they brought the tradition, but the English speaking colonists interpreted the name Sinterklass as Santa Claus. So there you have it.

Interestingly enough, Santa is the feminine singular form of "Saint" in Italian.  So it might explain why he grew a beard to feel more secure in his masculinity.  For the record, that is not why I grew a beard.

Both of these Santa images are AI app versions of me as Santa. Unfortunately, red is not my color. And I don't lean towards velvety fur trimmed jackets and hats which frankly are a bit too pimp-like for my taste. But I do have a full white beard and white hair. 

My wife and I were at a local tavern last night getting a late-night meal when a group showed up and loudly took over the table next to ours. One was dressed as Santa and a woman I assumed was his wife was dressed as Mrs. Claus. The rest of the group were dressed like Elves.  They were very loud and wished us a Merry Christmas (while we wished they would just go away).  Mrs. Claus kept eying me strangely so it just occurred to me that I looked more like Santa than her inebriated husband with his fake beard and red-flannel suite.

You couldn't pay me enough to dress like Santa and hand out at a bar drinking a pitcher of beer.  Hell, it was only December 6th.  But technically December 6th is St. Nicholas' Feast Day, so perhaps they were celebrating it.

Probably not. They were more likely just drunk assholes.