All I Want for Christmas

One Christmas many years ago, I was thirteen; the world was firmly in the grips of a budding love affair with Elvis Presley. A lot of presents on Christmas lists had something to do with this new icon, for me it was blue suede shoes.

I come from a large family by some standards. There were two parents and six offspring. One of the offspring was a boy, that was me. The other five were girls, that was a lot of people interested in the use of our single bathroom. That’s not really what this story is about but I thought I’d acknowledge the obvious.

Planning for Christmas presents must have been an interesting operation in the executive offices of our house. Dad worked two jobs to support our financial requirements and mother ran the outfit from her home office. A request for particular presents was standard procedure. Acquiring said requests was another matter.

Santa Claus was always an option if writing was your strength but persuading the purchasing agent typically would yield better results. Laying the proper foundation for requests was critical. Timing was very important and so was one’s most recent history of behavior. Dropping hints to mom after doing something noteworthy was good and so was carrying out regular chores in a timely manner.

If you wanted something special it was useful to perform some act that would ingratiate you with the purser. So when the request was made for blue suede shoes all of the surrounding niceties had been accomplished. The request was granted but there was a caveat. The price of the shoes was a bit beyond the budgeted per child expenditure, so it would have to be the only item in Santa’s bag. I agreed and the negotiation was successful.

Christmas morning felt pretty lean as I sat by the tree with only one gift but the gift was definitely a winner.

When friends asked what I got for Christmas I would say, “Blue Suede Shoes”.

When they asked what else I said, “You know, just the regular stuff.”

The implication was other less important stuff. That was true, in a way. Anyway, I got the shoes and I added a little cool to my resume. At least, I thought I had. I hope you get what you want for Christmas. I hope what you give isn’t limited to what can be bought. The gifts you have to share with friends and family are priceless, be generous.

©Herb Ratliff, December 18, 2012, All Rights Reserved