Text 35265, 91 rader
Skriven 2016-01-18 16:13:00 av NANCY BACKUS (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DAVE DRUM
Ärende: Re: Misteaks
====================
-=> Quoting Dave Drum to Nancy Backus on 01-12-16  09:53 <=-

 NB>> I think my parents wanted to make things clear about which were myths
 NB>> and which were truth...  Truth doesn't change, but if you talk about
 NB>> myths as though they were truth, it can tarnish the idea of truth...
 NB>> But myths can be useful all the same... so their approach was to
 NB>> portray them as the myths that they were, but to play along with them
 NB>> for the fun of it...

 DD> Your dad was a teacher, was he not?

He was indeed... a college professor, even... :)

 DD> Of course Santa is a *much* bigger
 DD> deal here in the US of A than in Europe or other areas in the
 DD> Christian sphere of influence. In fact the first representation of
 DD> Santa Claus was Sinter Klaas, the Dutch old man who brings presents,
 DD> candy, and sweets to kids in a December 5th parade.

Based upon the historical figure of St. Nicholas, who, legend has it,
delivered three young girls from being sold into slavery for debts by
dropping 3 bags of gold down their chimney...  :) 

 DD> Sinter Klaas and Black Peter, a Moor, arrive by boat. Sinter Klaas
 DD> wears a bishop's robe, gloves and red neckwear and rides a white
 DD> horse. Black Peter wears stockings, special pants, and a special
 DD> jacket. He also carries a big red book, which contains records of how
 DD> good or how bad children have been.
 DD> Later, Dutch children would leave their shoes in the chimney so Sinter
 DD> Klaas--riding from house to house on his white horse--can drop
 DD> presents down the chimney and into the shoes. Black Peter, on the
 DD> other hand, would go right down the chimneys and leave the presents
 DD> that way. 
 DD> Either way, we can trace the name and the idea of Santa Claus back to
 DD> Holland in the 1600s. Sinter Klaas became Sint Klaes, then Santa
 DD> Claus. 
 DD> Note the dates (Dec 5th & 6th) are merely in the same month as
 DD> Christmas - so, Santa and Christmas are a fairly recent concatenation.
 
I have some Dutch friends that traditionally always have celebrated St.
Nicholas Day (Dec 6) instead of exchanging gifts on Christmas, in order
to separate the religious from the secular aspects of the occasion... 

 DD>> It's easier the shunt those requests off to Santa than to deal with
 DD>> them directly. And it teaches the crumbdoon about deferred
 DD>> compensation/pleasure.
 NB>> I suppose...  There are other, probably better, ways to teach about
 NB>> deferring pleasure...  Besides, my parents couldn't have fulfilled (and
 NB>> probably wouldn't have thought it wise to fulfill) half the requests we
 NB>> might have asked of Santa had we thought he was really real...

 DD> Kids are natural negotiators. Ask for three or four times what they
 DD> really want then let it get whittled down to what they *really* wanted
 DD> ..... and often with a bonus goodie or two from the "wish list".  Bv)=
 
Depends on the family...  Books were always a safe thing to ask for in
our family, since that was a usual gift...  might not get just the one
one wanted though...  One year, Daddy made us art easels... one for me,
one for Jessie, and a dual one for Lesesne and Tait to share... wrote
our names in chalk on the front of the easel... made them of plywood and
2x2s, iirc... with a hinged leg to support it... :)  The dual one
supported the two sides by themselves...  I think that year one or more
of us might have actually asked for something of the sort... :)

 DD>> Just learned that the Interfaith Breakfast at Br'ith Sholom
 DD>> ran out of pancake mix about an hour into the event. Of course, being
 DD>> 25 December nearly everything was closed. Local IHOP to the rescue.
 DD>> They're open 24/7/365 locally. They provided a whole bag of their mix
 DD>> and refused payment, saying somewhat ironically, "It's the Christian
 DD>> thing to do." Not being one to look askance at either end of a gift
 DD>> horse Rabbi Datz accepted in the spirit it was offered.   Bv)=
 NB>> Well, it was an interfaith event, after all...  :)   And a lovely
 NB>> Christmas present, as well...  :)

 DD> I'd like to see more than just agnostics (me), Jews and Christians,
 DD> though. I did not note a single Jain, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Bahá'í,
 DD> or any of Oriental extraction who might have been of Buddhist, Taoist,
 DD> etc. faith or practice. That truly would have made an inter-faith
 DD> event. 

Invite your friends from the Halal restaurant...?  or from any of the
other ethnic places you might frequent...?  Perhaps the others don't
realize they are invited.... :)

ttyl      neb

... Top 10 most irritating people on TV? That's hard: there are too many.

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