A Very Stressed Santa Claus

It was the final week before the big night, and Santa Claus was filling in at a busy suburban mall to hear the last-minute requests from the local children. He was exhausted, his beard was itchy, and he had already listened to four hundred requests for the latest smartphone.

A small, serious-looking boy named Timmy climbed onto his lap. "Santa," the boy whispered, "I don't want any toys this year. I just want you to bring my father a new sense of humor. He tells the same three jokes every single day, and they aren't even funny anymore."

Santa leaned back and let out a hearty, booming laugh. "Ho, ho, ho! Now Timmy, that is a very difficult request. Giving a grown man a new personality is much harder than building a wooden train set or a racing car."

Timmy looked disappointed, so Santa patted his shoulder. "Tell you what, Timmy. Since I can’t change your father’s brain, how about I just bring you a pair of high-quality noise-canceling headphones? That way, he can keep his old jokes, and you can keep your sanity."

Timmy’s face lit up with a massive grin. "Santa, you really are the smartest man in the world!"