For centuries Santa Claus has remained unchanged. Ask any little kid and you will learn that Santa lives at the North Pole, travels in a sleigh pulled by reindeers - one of which is named Rudolph and has a red nose - makes toys all year with the help of elves - and is easily recognisable by his hearty greeting of " Ho - Ho - Ho "!
This week the biggest department store chain in Australia sacked a store Santa for continuing to greet kids by saying " Ho - Ho - Ho " !
It seems that one of the sub cultures in the United States has taken to denigrating women by referring to them as " Ho " !
Presumeably this is an abbreviation of the word " Hoare " !
What this has to do with the culture of Australia is anyone's guess. It is not a term used here and it seems an example of political correctness gone wrong to think that senior store executives are seeking to have Australia's Santas abandon tradition and substitute the greeting with " Ha - Ha - Ha " or possibly an imbecilic " He - He - He ".
Many will remember a similar incident several years ago when store and mall managers banned nativity scenes from public display - on the grounds that other religions might be offended. At the same time, the streets of the city of Sydney were suddenly bereft of Christmas decorations and even the word " Christmas " seemed to make retailers uncomfortable.
That madness has passed. The nativity displays are back in public view and we are promised a return of street decorations in the days ahead.
Maybe the shareholders of that company that sacked Santa need a rethink. Maybe the store sacked the wrong person !
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