We are all frauds some of the time

So, this year, I got to shoot Santa. I mean I took pictures of Santa. Fortunately, where I was working, I don't have to wear any of those silly green outfits. Sounds like torture, doesn't it?

What if I told you that I had an idiotic grin on my face? Yeah, even my grinch-like self, could smile on this holiday. Not that I'm any happier about the holiday, per se. It's more that I got to see all these little kids, all dressed to the nines, and have them smile for me. How can you not smile when they shout an excited, "Santa!" out loud as they catch a glimpse of jolly old St. Nick?

Ok, I admit it. I am a fraud. I like kids. What can I say? It's hard to ignore them when they smile so easily and seem to have no concerns in the world because they're focused on this day, not tomorrow and when everything is new and exciting to them.

Of course, not all of them had smiles on their faces. I had to take dozens of pictures every night where the child seeing Santa cried their lungs out. The funniest pictures were of squirming, screaming, crying kids. Remember, laughter is a reaction to the absurd. What can be more absurd than parents lining up for hours to have a picture taken of their crying child on some fat old man's lap?

Too bad being asian means I can't portray Santa. Then again, as I remind myself that I'd be that fat old man, maybe not.