Another Day in the Life of an Icon

  Being an individual who likes to walk and bring a smile or two to the faces of those around me, I'm always looking to do so. As I have a local event starting off in my home village of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, I decided to deliver a few flyers and let a few people know what I'm doing - dressed as Santa.

  Having never done any door to door deliveries since a paper round when I was 10, this was always going to be an interesting affair. Since over half of the houses that I went to were empty it was a bit of a lottery. 

  Some mothers were in, with their small children, and that provided plenty of smiles all around. I also received a few worried looks - after all, I'm sure that it's not every day that Santa turns up on their doorstep telling them about a wellbeing event at the local village hall. It was particularly ironic for those houses with the "Santa, please stop here" signs planted outside numerous front doors - be careful what you ask for!

  For the most part I received very friendly responses and had some great chats. Of course, one group of teenage chaps were not so reciprocal as I wished them a merry Christmas, responding with "Santa - you w****r!" Even this brought a smile to my face as the ghost of Christmas past came back to visit - I was no angel as a teenager either!

  Everyone else who I came across walking gave me a warm smile and drivers would beep horns and wave at me as the passed by. So, all-in-all it was a wonderful day out. I've connected with the local community in a way that it hadn't dawned on me to do before, I've spread a bit of Christmas cheer and I've let a few people know what I do. 

  It's been a simple lesson in the power of Santa, connecting, walking and staying positive - for it's always the most potentially negative experiences that result in the funniest tales. Just ask any Fawlty Towers fan.