Santas Behaving Badly

It's that time of the year again, when Santa Claus is in the news. Most of the time he behaves as a good role model should, but on occasion he gets a little out of hand.

Booze-soaked Santas have some New Yorkers seeing red

Bar-goers dressed in Christmas-themed costumes descended upon hundreds of cities worldwide Saturday for the annual bar crawl known as Santacon.

In New York, thousands took to the streets dressed as elves, Santas and holiday-themed characters, as they have since 1997. In recent years, the debauchery of some of its participants has become too much -- even for some who take part in it.

"It was just terrible, they were throwing up in the streets. It was really just disgusting..."

Despite the controversy, city officials are supporting the event.

"It's what makes New York New York," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a press conference Friday.

That's what makes New York New York - a horde of drunks dressed up as mythical characters?

Oh well, if I lived in NYC I'd drink heavily too.

Revelers dressed as Santa Claus pose for a picture at Tompkins Square Park during the annual NYC Santacon

At least none of those Santas dressed like this one.

Although it sounds like some of them may have ended up like this.

In other Christmas news, we have this sad story.

Man Leaps To His Death At Shopping Mall After Girlfriend Insists On More Shopping

A 38-year-old man leaped to his death after an argument with his girlfriend who insisted they continue shopping. CCTV captured Tao Hsiao and his girlfriend in a mall in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, east China where they had reportedly been shopping for five hours or so before he hit his limit.

Eyewitnesses said Hsiao could be heard telling his girlfriend that they already had more bags than they could carry, but she insisted on hitting one more store where there was a sale on shoes.

An eyewitness said: “He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a lifetime, and it was pointless buying any more. She started shouting at him, accusing him of being a skinflint, and of spoiling Christmas. It was a really heated argument.”

The argument continued until Hsiao threw the bags on the floor and himself over the balcony, dropping seven stories to his death and smashing Christmas decorations on the way down. He was killed on impact.

When I first read this I thought it was a joke, but as near as I can tell it's a legitimate story. I feel bad for the guy and his family, and I hesitate to make light of this tragedy, but at the same time I know what he went through. Like most guys, at one time or another I've been dragged along on a seemingly interminable shopping trip. But rather than leap to my death, I just found the nearest bar and hunkered down for the duration.