“Hurry Up, Tinsel!”

It’s Christmas Eve at the North Pole.  And at the launching pad where Santa Claus has his flying sleigh parked, the elves in charge of maintaining Santa’s holiday delivery chariot are going over every last-minute detail with Santa himself.

“Bangle, have you fine-tuned that sleigh runner?  Last year there was a nasty vibration on my way over New Mexico, and I want to make sure I have no problems landing on rooftops this year.”

“Got it fixed, Santa.”

“Evergreen, have you checked Blitzen’s right hoof?  All my reindeer need to have their hooves checked, and I thought I saw Blitzen limping the other day.”

“Blitzen’s fine, Santa.  He just stepped on a twig.  He’s ready to pull the sleigh for you.”

Santa looked at the big red bag in the sleigh’s rear storage seat.  Toys and gifts for all the good boys and girls throughout the world.  “The bag of gifts looks a bit light.  Are we missing any gifts?”

“Not sure, Santa,” said Bangle the elf.  “Tinsel is supposed to bring the final load of gifts for all the good boys and girls.  I’ll call the warehouse.”

With that, Bangle pulled an iPhone out of his jumper pocket.  “Warehouse, this is Bangle at the launching pad.  Are all gifts ready to go, Tinsel?”

“Just a few left,” said Tinsel, the elf in charge of gift manufacture and procurement.

Santa smiled.  Among all the elves in Santa’s workshop, Tinsel was his most trusted and dedicated elf.  Santa still told stories to new elves about how, when there was a shortage of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls 30 years ago, Tinsel and his crew actually stitched and crafted fifty last-minute dolls, then delivered them to children in need.  Those dolls, Santa said, brought their owners good luck and peace for decades.

No matter what, Santa could always count on Tinsel to find the perfect gift.  But Christmas wasn’t going to wait for Tinsel.  Santa had to fly – and fly very soon.  A quick wave of Santa’s white-gloved hand, and Bangle handed Santa the iPhone.

“Tinsel, this is Santa.  What’s the delay?”

“Just putting a few things in a stocking, Santa – this one gets some candy, a couple of gift certificates, some scarves, some lottery tickets – hope they’re winners – and some other treasures.  It’s on its way to the launch site right now, I just put it on the conveyor belt.”

A few moments later, a red felt-covered Christmas stocking – with the name Nicole embroidered in white along its brim – glided up the conveyor belt to the launch pad.  Bangle grabbed the stocking, tossed it up to another elf on the sleigh, who carefully positioned the stocking in Santa’s red bag.  “All set, Santa!”

“That’s great… but the sleigh is still missing something.  Trying to remember… oh yes.  Tinsel?  Did you follow-up on that camera for the Miller kid in New York?”

Silence.

“Tinsel?”

“Um… Santa… ”

“Tinsel, my boy, you’ve never let me down before.  Where’s the camera?”

“Um… give me ten minutes, Santa, I have it here, yeah, yeah, I have to wrap it.”

“Tinsel?”

“Yes, Santa?”

“You’ve got five minutes.”

===

While Santa looked over his sleigh and talked with his elves and his reindeer, Tinsel checked his delivery bins.  And the one delivery bin marked “Electronics” was still empty.

A quick phone call.

Ring.

Ring.

“Thank you for calling B&H Photo, how can I help you?”

“This is Tinsel at the North Pole.  Can you connect me with Avram in the new camera department?”

“Did you say – from the North Pole?”

“Yes.  Do you want my B&H account number?  It’s – ”

“No, that’s okay.  Hold on a second, I’ll patch you through to Avram.  Please hold.”

Waiting… waiting… Tinsel checked his watch.

“Thank you for calling B&H, this is Avram, how can I help you?”

“Avram, this is Tinsel the Elf at the North Pole.”

“Tinsel?  Bubbe, you’re calling close to Christmas.”

“I know.  But you’ve never let me down before.   This is an emergency.  I’ve been looking all over and I can’t get this camera in time.”

“Tell me what you need.”

Reading off his handwritten notes, Tinsel asked, “Do you have that new Nikon Df digital camera with the 50mm f/1.8 lens package?”

“Hold on a second… my computer says we have one left.”

“Wonderful.  Black or silver finish?”

“Black.  I can’t get a silver one to save my life.”

Tinsel looked at his watch one more time.  “I’ll take the black.  You have my account and shipping number, just put it in the ‘special’ delivery chute.”

“You got it,” replied Avram.

One minute later, the boxed camera appeared in Tinsel’s magical “delivery box.”

“Okay, elves,” he shouted.  “We need this package wrapped now.  Last package of 2013.  Hurry!!”

With that, four elves grabbed the camera box, wrapped the camera in pretty paper, added a bow and a to-from tag, and put the wrapped present on the conveyor belt to the launch site.

As Tinsel watched the present travel up the conveyor belt, he called Santa on the iPhone.  “It’s on its way, Santa,” he breathed.

“Good, Tinsel.  I knew you would never let me down.”

Tinsel smiled.  If Santa only knew how many contacts Tinsel had around the world.  I make Santa look pretty darn good, the elf thought to himself.

The package arrived at the launch site.  Bangle picked up the package and checked the to-from tag to ensure that the present was properly labeled.  Then up to the red sleigh bag, and in it fit.

“All ready, Santa!” Bangle shouted.

“Okay,” said the jolly man in the red suit, as he harnessed himself into the driver’s seat of the sleigh.  “You all did your job.  Now it’s time to do mine.”

A few cracks of the reins.  The reindeer stood at attention.

And then… in an instant… Santa, the reindeer and the sleigh were airborne and on their way.