By Paul Lathrop | Contributing Editor
A shopping mall Santa who brought a youngster to tears by telling the lad ‘No,” when the youngster asked for a Nerf gun for Christmas is no longer on the job, and the boy was subsequently visited by the “Real” Santa, who delivered a top-of-the-line Nerf gun to his home.
This genuine melts-the-heart Christmas story began when a video of the encounter was posted on social media. This incident occurred at the Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge, Ill.
The youngster, seated across from the mall Santa, who asked about what he wanted for Christmas. When he said he wanted a Nerf gun, Santa replied “No, no guns.” The boy’s mom can be overheard explaining the child wanted a nerf gun, but Santa remained resolute.
“Nope, not even a nerf gun,” Santa responded. “Nope. If your dad wants to get in for you that’s fine but I can’t bring it to you. What else would you like, there’s lots of toys, Legos, bicycles, there’s cars and trucks, what do you think?”
At this point, mom approached the boy as he started to cry. As the mom comforted you can hear Santa in the background saying “Don’t cry.” and “It’s okay.”
Well, except it wasn’t “okay” at all. The video went viral. It wound up on Fox News. Various publications reported the heart-crushing encounter, including the Daily Mail, based in the U.K.
The family has received an outpouring of support with several offers to buy Nerf guns. So much so that they are starting a project to provide Nerf guns to children in need.
According to the New York Post, the boy turned to his mother, who assured him, “You’ll still get it.” At that moment, she could not have guessed how prophetic her remark would be.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the mall quickly contacted the boy’s family to make things more than right. In a statement, the mall announced, “We are happy to report that the ‘real’ Santa visited the boy at his home today to bring him a nerf gun! We hope we restored Christmas magic to this boy and his family with Santa’s special visit.”
But there is more.
The family has reportedly received an outpouring of support with several offers to buy Nerf guns. So much so that they are starting a project to provide Nerf guns to children in need.
And the Santa who started all of this? Published reports say a message was posted explaining, “Santa is heartbroken and crushed that he has made this child so sad and upset, and turned in his resignation.”
Even people who don’t care for toy guns have taken to social media condemning the mall Santa, who probably deserves an “Ebenezer Scrooge Humanitarian Award.”
