We had the most interesting event occur this winter. At my husbands store they have a red "blow-up" Santa that is put up every night. This one evening just around Christmas 2011 on a weekend, the maintenance man was making his rounds. As he rounded an area near the front door of the building, off to the side he saw a "man" in a red coat lying in the snow partially covered with snow. Thinking the "man" was inebriated and "sleeping or passed out" he called 911. Due to the extreme cold conditions and the winds that were unusually bad that night, the operator dispatched EMT's, police, & fire engines. While waiting for the EMT's, the operator asked if he had checked to see if the man was breathing. He replied that no, he had not. The EMT's, police and fire engine had arrived and all congregated in the parking lot when the maintenance man checked and found that the inebriate was the human size blow-up Santa that my husband had forgotten to put up. He had lost some of the air, but retained enough to make him look real in the snow. Everyone, even the police and EMT's got a good laugh on that one. Consequently, my husband didn't forget to put Santa in the building the rest of the holidays. I know we will never forget that Christmas or our "inebriated Santa".
