“Dear Santa:
Please define ‘naughty.’
Yours truly,…” 
Author Unknown

The annual time of reckoning is approaching. We all learned, early on in life, that Santa’s generosity at Christmas would be reflective of our behavior throughout the year. Would we get the desired perfect gift or would we find a lump of coal in our Christmas stocking? This was much more of a concern for some of us than for others. Strangely, in all the times I stood in line at the Emporium in the Stonestown Shopping Center in San Francisco waiting patiently to sit on Sant’s lap, I never thought to ask him to clarify what he meant by naughty.

To say that I got into a bit of trouble in my younger days would be an understatement. Because of my incessant deficient behavior at home, my mother drove me to Juvenile Hall near Twin Peaks one night when I was only five years old. Sitting in the car outside the detention facility, we negotiated the terms of expected behavior before returning home. In third grade, having earned a poor grade on a math test, I attempted to forge my mother’s signature on the test paper which had been sent home for my parents to see and sign. My effort to deceive my 74-year-old teacher was less than successful. And when I thought I would bring some excitement to the neighborhood by calling in a false alarm to the fire department one day after school,… well,… let’s just say that I learned that my father’s S.F.F.D. uniform belt could serve more than one purpose.

Needless to say, there were many years when, in the days leading up to Christmas, I had little expectation of finding any gifts for me under our family Christmas tree.

Fortunately, my behavior improved considerably as I got older. I still pulled a few stunts that were ill-advised, but I managed to stay out of any big trouble. Now, as I approach the age of 70, I’m fairly confident that my conduct will have no negative repercussions on Christmas morning. Still, though, I’m curious about the exact meaning of the word naughty.

It’s been a few years since my last visit with Santa Claus, and since I don’t have any desire to get back in line at the local mall to see him, I thought it best to simply refer to the dictionary for clarification. The words associated with naughty were alarming: “disobedient, mischievous (used especially in speaking to or about children), improper, tasteless, indecorous, indecent, wicked, evil.” That’s quite a list! Do any of those terms relate to how I live my life in 2023? I certainly hope not.

I am not perfect. I have my flaws. I make poor choices from time to time. Generally speaking, however, I’m fairly confident that no one would think to use the word naughty to describe me. I just wonder if this is a good thing… or not.