When I was 10, I had a 12 year-old sister, Denise, and two brothers. Lenny was 14 and Danny was 5. We boys slept in the same room in a small, single-story house in a modest, riverside neighborhood known as Pleasureland. The neighborhood’s name derived from a decades-old nearby park with two swimming pools and many picnic tables. On weekends, people from all over North Jersey and New York City went there and to the adjacent, similar Muller’s Park, where I got my first job, at 15, as a garbageman. Both parks closed in 1985 after two people were killed and nine more were wounded in an AK-47 shootout at Muller’s during a late Sunday afternoon, late summer Brooklyn/Jamaican gang picnic. Two days prior, on Friday, I had swum and dove off the high board there into deep, shimmering, aqua-tinged water with twilight sun shining obliquely upon it. I didn’t know then that a hometown era was about to end.
Mark, what a great metaphor! This wonderful piece reveals an unfortunate scandemic truth: it took a long time for me as a child to admit there was no actual, physical Santa Claus. I was afraid that once I owned up to that fact, the presents would cease. I think an awful lot of the covidians are afraid to own up to the fact that their beloved govt handlers do not actually love them-- in fact, that it doesn’t even like them. These folks are afraid to give up their delusions, made real by continued shots and masks.
Sep 14, 2022·edited Sep 14, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Again another great piece.
When my kids were younger I used to dress up as Santa. The first time my 3 year old son saw me in costume, he said 'Hi Daddy'.
Little kids are impossible to fool. When we get older that's when we start allowing ourselves to believe all the lies....anything to protect from the cold hard bite of reality.
I often wonder if the whole Santa Claus thing is a major disservice to kids. Sure it's fun (not to mention the perfect front for the mega-corp), but it only prepares us for the lies our Government spins us on a daily basis.
Great analogy. Had a "conversation" with my Dr. yesterday about shots. It's interesting how a smart, (what I used to think), and educated man is led to believe because of "science".(What science??) He is still pushing the shots for patients (I say hell no) and is not champing at the bit to get the current booster, although his wife (also a Dr. ) is pushing it. Does he hear himself I wonder? He listened to me though when we discussed natural immunity. Just fill my allergy Rx and let me make my own decisions. He doesn't make any $ off of me-so the patient/Dr.relationship is waning.
I enjoyed your memory, as it reminds me of the "before times."
I always told me daughter if you stop believing, he stops coming. She was past 16 before she admitted she knew anything :)
I wonder if they can't dial it back because they've been lying, or if they have to keep pushing because over-spiked immune systems are now on "life support. "
I just saw a politician in Ontario pushing the "new" Omicron bivalent shots. Is she really that oblivious to the carnage?
I so want this nightmare to end. Watching family members go for "just one more booster" is a burden that feels too heavy to carry some days. Thankfully, my immediate family is awake. The extended family, not so much.
Interesting analogy but there is a big difference. Your Mom acted out of love. She knew that a childhood without the beautiful fantasy of Santa would deprive the children glee and wonder of the season. Our government has a much different agenda behind their fiction. What drives them isn't love of fellow man but rather power and profit for themselves under the guise of doing good. Much like the peddlers that push today's cheap Chinese crap that ends up in the garbage a few days after Christmas, they have a very different view than your Mom. To them, Christmas is enriching themselves, not you or your kids. The problem comes when the junk pushed into little arms can't be thrown into the trash when it doesn't work as promised.
Sep 14, 2022·edited Sep 14, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
What a sad, poignant and apt analogy for the state of our world today. The only difference is that Santa wasn't secretly delivering evil gifts that could kill.
The more academically accomplished and credentialed someone is, the less likely they are to admit they are wrong. We are all victims of that hubris and greed. I hope to live long enough to see Albert Bourla on trial.
MD's who keep pushing boosters are harming people. The evidence is crystal clear. You are more likely to become seriously ill and hospitalized if you are boosted. Then they'll pump you full of paxlovid and remdesivir to speed up the process. But I digress...
As someone else on the thread just mentioned, they're dead wrong about nutrition as well. Their recommendations and guidelines for "healthy" eating over the last 70 years have doomed millions to an early grave. The medical establishment hasn't begun to reverse course on this either. Don't hold your breath.
Thank you Mark, for this sweet story of your youth. How true the analogy. How very sad and tragic that the lies continue. Even sadder that they are still believed. 😢
I love this story. While I enjoyed the whole Santa myth when my kids were young, I was relieved when I no longer had to lie to them. Thankfully, the “Elf on the Shelf” was not popular back then. That Elf gives me the creeps!
I just love your analogy! I can so distinctly remember as a child having so many questions (I’ve always had more questions than answers lol) about the logistics of Santa Claus (delivering all those packages world-wide in a few short hours, big guy fitting in a chimney, knowing if I’d been good or bad and the creepiness of someone watching me sleep, etc.)…the kicker was when I realized that Santa and my mother had the same wrapping paper…the jig was up! I con’t to play along for many years as I feared that not believing in Santa would end Christmas altogether and I didn’t want to hurt my mothers feelings.
There were so many things that (like the Santa Claus questions) simply didn’t make logical sense to me soon after this plandemic began. For instance…having to wear a mask into a restaurant…then being able to take it off when you sat down…then put it back on again if you stood up…crazy!! I felt like we were playing a big game of Simon Says. Logic tells you that a virus doesn’t only hover above four feet or only come out after ten o’clock at night or frequent small businesses (as opposed to big chain stores).
I feel mostly sad (and somewhat frustrated) when I see people still in masks and others continuing to defend this virus’s ridiculous demands…it’s as though they’ve been hypnotized and I’m not sure how this spell can be broken.
Sep 14, 2022·edited Sep 14, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Pleasureland. I can't get over that name. It sounds appropriate for the 50's and 60's
but now it takes on a whole new mental image.
We did not do Santa at our house. I am 67 and my parents lived through WW2 in Holland. One day they met, got married had kids. My dad aspired to go to the US like all of his uncles. My sisters and I knew Santa existed but he was not for delivering presents. We moved to the states when I was 10. the kids here were weird and I could not understand them. I could speak english but not American english. US kids had a different mind set
I love learning about childhood from others experiences. Mine was different than most Americans.
I think my experience was unique bc my parents survived a horrible war. Also we believed in Sinterklaas and Swarte Piet
Your comparison of these various present day speciously obvious hypocrisies are spot on.
The Left disgusts me. They are repulsive. We are the grown ups now, and we stand by watching these arrogant criminals rob, steal, trespass and we are told to shut up about it.
"I hate these people" - as Greg Gutfeld used to say, I never watch tv anymore. so maybe he still says it
Love your article. I hope you write as a profession because you took me to your childhood with your writing style . It's very clear, but engaging and paints a picture for the reader.
I think the fact that the “mitigation” measures didn’t work (& of course they knew they wouldn’t) but forced them anyway for something w/ a 99.7% survivability for the vast majority was the evidence they needed of their ability to control & subjugate & this was/is the feature, not the bug.
And now that they have that evidence, I wonder what happens when a deadlier man made bio weapon comes out. We’re being promised one (or more) will.
There will never be apologies or admissions that they were wrong. As w/ the criminals @ Nuremberg, they will be either defiant or deflect that they were simply following orders. I wouldn’t care as long as they would get what’s coming to them, but I’m afraid they won’t (@ least in this life).
At least Denmark just announced no Vax under 50 - so some are moving in the right direction.
Mental illness is strong - and in the Covid era the government created a public hysteria. Hysteria is a real thing - it has actual physical and mental manifestations that are extremely difficult to remove and are social in nature. Hysteria turns to zealotry and zealotry to persecution. We’ve witnessed this first hand. The average American is NOT a contrarian - they want to believe in the “government” thinking of their best interests - even with all the evidence to the contrary throughout our history.
I guess I was a trusting naïve kid. I believed in Santa until I was 9 or 10. Fortunately I grew up to be a cynical adult and saw right through the Covid BS right from day one.
Mark, what a great metaphor! This wonderful piece reveals an unfortunate scandemic truth: it took a long time for me as a child to admit there was no actual, physical Santa Claus. I was afraid that once I owned up to that fact, the presents would cease. I think an awful lot of the covidians are afraid to own up to the fact that their beloved govt handlers do not actually love them-- in fact, that it doesn’t even like them. These folks are afraid to give up their delusions, made real by continued shots and masks.
Again another great piece.
When my kids were younger I used to dress up as Santa. The first time my 3 year old son saw me in costume, he said 'Hi Daddy'.
Little kids are impossible to fool. When we get older that's when we start allowing ourselves to believe all the lies....anything to protect from the cold hard bite of reality.
I often wonder if the whole Santa Claus thing is a major disservice to kids. Sure it's fun (not to mention the perfect front for the mega-corp), but it only prepares us for the lies our Government spins us on a daily basis.
Great analogy. Had a "conversation" with my Dr. yesterday about shots. It's interesting how a smart, (what I used to think), and educated man is led to believe because of "science".(What science??) He is still pushing the shots for patients (I say hell no) and is not champing at the bit to get the current booster, although his wife (also a Dr. ) is pushing it. Does he hear himself I wonder? He listened to me though when we discussed natural immunity. Just fill my allergy Rx and let me make my own decisions. He doesn't make any $ off of me-so the patient/Dr.relationship is waning.
I enjoyed your memory, as it reminds me of the "before times."
I always told me daughter if you stop believing, he stops coming. She was past 16 before she admitted she knew anything :)
I wonder if they can't dial it back because they've been lying, or if they have to keep pushing because over-spiked immune systems are now on "life support. "
I just saw a politician in Ontario pushing the "new" Omicron bivalent shots. Is she really that oblivious to the carnage?
I so want this nightmare to end. Watching family members go for "just one more booster" is a burden that feels too heavy to carry some days. Thankfully, my immediate family is awake. The extended family, not so much.
Interesting analogy but there is a big difference. Your Mom acted out of love. She knew that a childhood without the beautiful fantasy of Santa would deprive the children glee and wonder of the season. Our government has a much different agenda behind their fiction. What drives them isn't love of fellow man but rather power and profit for themselves under the guise of doing good. Much like the peddlers that push today's cheap Chinese crap that ends up in the garbage a few days after Christmas, they have a very different view than your Mom. To them, Christmas is enriching themselves, not you or your kids. The problem comes when the junk pushed into little arms can't be thrown into the trash when it doesn't work as promised.
What a sad, poignant and apt analogy for the state of our world today. The only difference is that Santa wasn't secretly delivering evil gifts that could kill.
The more academically accomplished and credentialed someone is, the less likely they are to admit they are wrong. We are all victims of that hubris and greed. I hope to live long enough to see Albert Bourla on trial.
MD's who keep pushing boosters are harming people. The evidence is crystal clear. You are more likely to become seriously ill and hospitalized if you are boosted. Then they'll pump you full of paxlovid and remdesivir to speed up the process. But I digress...
As someone else on the thread just mentioned, they're dead wrong about nutrition as well. Their recommendations and guidelines for "healthy" eating over the last 70 years have doomed millions to an early grave. The medical establishment hasn't begun to reverse course on this either. Don't hold your breath.
Thanks Mark.
Thank you Mark, for this sweet story of your youth. How true the analogy. How very sad and tragic that the lies continue. Even sadder that they are still believed. 😢
I love this story. While I enjoyed the whole Santa myth when my kids were young, I was relieved when I no longer had to lie to them. Thankfully, the “Elf on the Shelf” was not popular back then. That Elf gives me the creeps!
I just love your analogy! I can so distinctly remember as a child having so many questions (I’ve always had more questions than answers lol) about the logistics of Santa Claus (delivering all those packages world-wide in a few short hours, big guy fitting in a chimney, knowing if I’d been good or bad and the creepiness of someone watching me sleep, etc.)…the kicker was when I realized that Santa and my mother had the same wrapping paper…the jig was up! I con’t to play along for many years as I feared that not believing in Santa would end Christmas altogether and I didn’t want to hurt my mothers feelings.
There were so many things that (like the Santa Claus questions) simply didn’t make logical sense to me soon after this plandemic began. For instance…having to wear a mask into a restaurant…then being able to take it off when you sat down…then put it back on again if you stood up…crazy!! I felt like we were playing a big game of Simon Says. Logic tells you that a virus doesn’t only hover above four feet or only come out after ten o’clock at night or frequent small businesses (as opposed to big chain stores).
I feel mostly sad (and somewhat frustrated) when I see people still in masks and others continuing to defend this virus’s ridiculous demands…it’s as though they’ve been hypnotized and I’m not sure how this spell can be broken.
Pleasureland. I can't get over that name. It sounds appropriate for the 50's and 60's
but now it takes on a whole new mental image.
We did not do Santa at our house. I am 67 and my parents lived through WW2 in Holland. One day they met, got married had kids. My dad aspired to go to the US like all of his uncles. My sisters and I knew Santa existed but he was not for delivering presents. We moved to the states when I was 10. the kids here were weird and I could not understand them. I could speak english but not American english. US kids had a different mind set
I love learning about childhood from others experiences. Mine was different than most Americans.
I think my experience was unique bc my parents survived a horrible war. Also we believed in Sinterklaas and Swarte Piet
Your comparison of these various present day speciously obvious hypocrisies are spot on.
The Left disgusts me. They are repulsive. We are the grown ups now, and we stand by watching these arrogant criminals rob, steal, trespass and we are told to shut up about it.
"I hate these people" - as Greg Gutfeld used to say, I never watch tv anymore. so maybe he still says it
Love your article. I hope you write as a profession because you took me to your childhood with your writing style . It's very clear, but engaging and paints a picture for the reader.
Wait, what ? There’s no Santa !
I think the fact that the “mitigation” measures didn’t work (& of course they knew they wouldn’t) but forced them anyway for something w/ a 99.7% survivability for the vast majority was the evidence they needed of their ability to control & subjugate & this was/is the feature, not the bug.
And now that they have that evidence, I wonder what happens when a deadlier man made bio weapon comes out. We’re being promised one (or more) will.
There will never be apologies or admissions that they were wrong. As w/ the criminals @ Nuremberg, they will be either defiant or deflect that they were simply following orders. I wouldn’t care as long as they would get what’s coming to them, but I’m afraid they won’t (@ least in this life).
At least Denmark just announced no Vax under 50 - so some are moving in the right direction.
Mental illness is strong - and in the Covid era the government created a public hysteria. Hysteria is a real thing - it has actual physical and mental manifestations that are extremely difficult to remove and are social in nature. Hysteria turns to zealotry and zealotry to persecution. We’ve witnessed this first hand. The average American is NOT a contrarian - they want to believe in the “government” thinking of their best interests - even with all the evidence to the contrary throughout our history.
I guess I was a trusting naïve kid. I believed in Santa until I was 9 or 10. Fortunately I grew up to be a cynical adult and saw right through the Covid BS right from day one.