Chris Jepson: Dear Santa

Won’t-cha please bring me a national healthcare system that’s understandable, fair and accessible to all? How about Medicare for all? Many Americans think that once you’re “on” Medicare that it’s a “free” ride to unlimited care land. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth, Santa. I spend hundreds monthly on supplemental insurance for what Medicare doesn’t cover. It’s a sad joke trying to understand the ins and outs of America’s healthcare system. Do something, Santa.

Santa, it seems we’ve given up in America on being trim, fit and healthy. We’ve lost our national collective willpower to control our ravenous pie holes. We eat and eat and eat. Our restaurateurs are so confused. They plate-up single-serving mounds of food that would feed an entire Bangladeshi family. Santa, make us all slender again like we were in the 1950s before fast food and pop became our diet, before mama (or papa) quit cooking in the kitchen.

Oh, Santa, could you make us all more tolerant of each other and our differences? If you weren’t a guard at Auschwitz or a pedophile or rapist and you’re not scamming your neighbor (see: Bernie Madoff), I don’t so much care what you do in private. I know some folks and their sacred texts deplore this and that, but if your neighbor pays her taxes and keeps her property up, it makes sense to politely mind your own business. Doesn’t it, Santa? If you can give folks a more accepting, kind heart that would be truly great. Give us all the gift of an open mind, too.

Santa, bring back recess to our elementary schools. Allow our children to run and play three times each school day. Morning, lunch and afternoon. Make’em sweaty and giddy from the exhilaration of just being kids without electronic devices. Have’em learn more about life through the scuffles and intrigues of schoolyard living.

Oh Santa, we desperately need a new definition of human progress. Can you help us? We’re more than just consumers aren’t we? Is life merely about selling more widgets this quarter than last? Is that it? Really? And, must it be? We see Mother Earth wilting all around us. Will we not recognize our own complicity? Pull something special out of your bag, Santa, anything that opens our eyes wider to our obligations.

Santa, you’ve been around so long, in one form or another since the 4th century A.D. You’ve seen so many children come and go but, incredibly, another 2 billion will arrive during the next 35 years, further burdening our dear Mother Earth so. Reach in your bag, Santa, and dispense your wisdom and love for the planet. Give to all of Earth’s women the ability to safely and effectively control their fertility and by doing so, determining Mother Earth’s destiny.

While you’re at it, Santa, drop a note in everyone’s stocking explaining why putting more American ground troops in the Middle East doesn’t make the nation safer. It (the presence of American forces) actually has just the opposite effect by fueling the already raging fire of anti-Western hostility. We’ve been warring so long, Santa, that fear has become an established American industry, traded on Wall Street, marketed in mutual funds.

Finally Santa, please bring good health and serenity to all the readers of the Winter Park/Maitland Observer. Give us the wisdom and insight to all be a little kinder. That would be the best gift of all, Santa.