Santa Owes Rudolph an Apology

Santa owes Rudolph an apology…

Here’s why:

Social Standards are those commonly accepted, learned and applied, courses of action within a social group or similar clustering of individuals.

As a learned behavior we may assume that the behavior was exhibited or described in a positive manner; such behavior then being deemed acceptable by the social set.

 “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose,

 And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer used to Laugh and Call Him Names,

They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in Any Reindeer games.”

 The following is excerpted from Wikipedia:

Verbal abuse (also known as reviling or bullying) is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you.

 Despite being the most common form of abuse, verbal abuse is generally not taken as seriously as other types of abuse, because there is no visible proof and the abuser may have a perfect persona around others. In reality, however, verbal abuse can be more detrimental to a person's health than physical abuse. If a person is verbally abused from childhood on, he or she may develop psychological disorders that plague them into and even through adulthood.

In 1996, Health Canada argued that emotional abuse is motivated by urges for "power and discontrol", and defines emotional abuse as including rejecting, degrading, terrorizing, isolating, corrupting/exploiting and "denying emotional responsiveness" as characteristic of emotional abuse.

So, I ask you, Is refusal to acknowledge the suffering of a lone Reindeer what we, as enlightened individuals, want to pass on to our children? Are we ignoring an important and valuable lesson-for-living by simply singing it away as a frivolous children’s song?

How about the implications of negligence on the part of Santa himself? Can we really accept and believe that Santa knows nothing of the actions and behavior of those Reindeer stabled within the compound there at the North Pole?

How can we expect the best from our children… our society… if we fail to recognize, to intervene against, and to stop the practice of bullying. A practice that is, seemingly, condoned as acceptable because it is exhibited by a Global Icon.

Does the ‘benevolent’ source of disparagement lessen Rudolph’s pain? Is Rudolph then supposed to have a life of torment erased, wiped away clean, by the desperation of his former fellow Reindeer and Santa himself when they discover that fog has grounded their International Flight?

 “Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say,

Rudolph with your Nose so Bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Toss the Victim a Bone, make him feel as if there is validity in their previous ridicule because now, when They need Him, they’re all over that which was declared a damning personal defect throughout the term of previous years.

Then, in relief from desperation, and the suffering of untold years of oppression, Rudolph leaps to the service of those who are his oppressors…

Well I think he should have reacted differently.

Also, I believe that I personally have failed Rudolph because I did not come to his aid when I initially heard those lyrics. Nor did I advise others of the situation immediately upon learning of their being an issue.

It is also my observation that when “All of the other Reindeer laughed and shouted out with glee,

‘Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, You’ll go down in History….’

they did not expect to chronicle, for all time, the pathetic manner in which the world responded to one lone Reindeer who was just trying to fit in and play some Reindeer Games…

 Now, I’m not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV, so I can’t reasonably take a stand on legal grounds, but I’ll bet that Rudolph could find any number of law firms willing to take this case on contingency… and you know what that means…

Well, I’ve made my viewpoint known to a greater public and in doing so I hope I’ve made the life of a very heroic young Reindeer who never gave up, a little better.

He kept trying to get in there and play… Play those Reindeer Games Rudolph… Do it for every Reindeer that was ever Bullied… Do it because it’s the Right Thing to Do…

You must have an opinion on this subject; otherwise you wouldn’t have read this piece.

How do you feel about this especially pressing issue? Am I wrong? I don’t think so, and Santa could start remediation by simply saying, “Rudolph, I am sorry for the way we all treated you, but please Have a Happy Nonsectarian, Non-Gender Specific, Party-Neutral, Racially Unbiased, Mid-Winter Holiday…”