Snow pants

Dear Santa, I think we need to talk about what happened last Christmas. As you know, there was no Toyota 4Runner in my driveway on Christmas morning. I thought we had an understanding?

To say I was disappointed in not receiving the only gift I asked for is an understatement. I want to believe that it wasn鈥檛 personal, Santa. Perhaps you had budget constraints. Perhaps my 4Runner wouldn鈥檛 fit in the sleigh. Understandable.

Maybe you didn鈥檛 feel I was deserving of my wish. Maybe you felt someone else deserved it more. Unlikely. My worst fear is you gave my 4Runner to someone who didn鈥檛 appreciate it and they did something awful like painting it beige and keeping the factory tires and rims on it (shudder).

You know I鈥榤 an exceptionally good person, Santa. I say 鈥減lease鈥 and 鈥渢hank you鈥 at appropriate times. I even say 鈥渟orry鈥 for things I haven鈥檛 done, would never do, or that are not my fault. Sometimes I apologize for things I don鈥檛 even actually feel sorry for 鈥 temporarily terrible things that I secretly enjoyed doing, yet I say sorry because it鈥檚 the right thing to do.

Santa, I don鈥檛 even trip rude people who deserve a good face plant into a snowbank, like the hot-heads who yell at retail and food service employees in the midst of the holiday rush, despite knowing those retail workers aren鈥檛 making a living wage and are dealing with the public, which is exhausting.

There鈥檚 nothing quite like people with money to spend who then look down on those with hours to work to make rent. When was the last time you heard someone wish these workers a Merry Christmas when they collected their parcels? I say it, Santa. I do.

So, I keep wondering why my Toyota 4Runner didn鈥檛 arrive. Maybe you鈥檙e not watching me very closely. Maybe you caught me that one time this summer that my niceness was eclipsed with naughty road rage.

A man in a Rav4 passed me aggressively on a solid line on a side road, despite oncoming traffic coming over the hill. Why? Because I slowed down for pedestrians who were walking on the dirt shoulder beside my lane.

So, yeah, I honked at him and made a gesture out of my sunroof window that suggested in no uncertain terms that his driving etiquette was unnecessarily rude. And dangerous. And dumb.

I鈥檓 not proud of it, but I鈥檓 not sorry either, Santa. That man broke the law. He was reckless. And his vehicle wasn鈥檛 as cool as a 4Runner, which I didn鈥檛 say out loud but I thought it all the same.

Is this why I didn鈥檛 get my truck? Because I also maybe cursed that driver with wishes for a flat tire? Maybe a dead battery. It was just a harmless wish.

Whatever, Santa. After more than 20 years of asking for a 4Runner, I鈥檓 going to let that dream go. I want one, but I don鈥檛 need one. It鈥檚 important to differentiate needs versus wants. Like, I need a vacation and I want one, so that checks both boxes.

Besides, I walk to work now. So, you see?I鈥檓 even kind to the environment. That being said, I could use some snow pants, please. Good ones.

Thanks, big guy.

No hard feelings.

WriteOut of Her Mind