12:12pm Monday 24th December 2007
By Dave Barnett
He is! He really is! I know because I saw him on Saturday afternoon in Sainsbury's at Keighley.
And I'm not talking about any old supermarket Santa. This wasn't Father Christmas in his red suit stuffed into a grotto while a bunch of kids went feral all over him, oh no.
This was the real deal. There we were, a happy pre-Christmas family outing to buy some food, the kids playing up just a bit, when I saw him. He was wearing a raincoat and a hat and pushing a trolley.
He wasn't as fat as I expected (though people always look bigger on the telly) and not quite as jolly as the hype would have you believe (still, who can keep a smile on their face constantly this
time of year). But it was him nonetheless. A gentleman of advanced years with a long white beard.
I surreptitiously signalled to the kids and they looked at him, stunned. He bent over, warned them to be good, winked, and moved on.
If you ever had any doubt, then don't. He's real and he's here. You'd better be good, now...
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