A Not-Too-Jolly Santa Claus Comments

I know this story to be true because I know Ruben and he wouldn't lie even though Ruben and I have never met. He lives in Alabama in a hollow and I live in St. Louis. But that makes no difference. We met accidentally by email because of the one thing we have in common—the love of poetry and prose. We've been exchanging emails ever since about the sundry matters of life. It's easy to tell the truth to someone you have never met and very likely will never meet, age and distance being what they are.

Ruben, as he explains it, was once a popular teacher at a rural middle school where each December students would pick a faculty member to be their Santa Claus for their big party. The kids always picked Ruben. He didn't know if they picked him because of his size or his popularity or both but he could not escape the honor. The problem was, Ruben hated playing Santa Claus.
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