today's santa: believable or not?

When I was a little girl, I knew without a doubt that Santa was real. Every year when I sat on his lap he had on his full suit, full curly hair and beard, rosy cheeks, sparkling eyes, and the classic jolly personality with plenty of 'ho, ho, ho's'. He was also very interested in what I wanted for Christmas and I was sure he would remember to bring it for me.
Today, I'm not so sure. Since I have had children of my own, I have noticed a downward spiral in today's santas! They don't wear a full suit, their cheeks are definitely not rosy; and in six years (since Ethnie's been born), I have not heard ONE 'ho, ho, ho' from any santa. To top it all off, a mother told me that she heard Santa is not allowed to say 'Merry Christmas' in some places! He has to say 'Happy Holidays' instead. How sad is that?
We had a frustrating time this year visiting Santa. During our first try to see him, we snaked around in line for an hour to find out that Santa was going on break for a half hour or so. I was not willing to wait another 45 minutes with kids so we left.
A couple days later we decided to try again, this time at the Mall of America. This santa was more believable and we only had to wait for 50 minutes. Even though this santa was very nice and had his own hair and beard, he never smiled once or said 'Merry Christmas'. All in all, Ethnie was very excited and had a good time. Emmett was a very good boy and sat on his lap without crying!

Hope your Santa visit is a good one!