As a kid, I remember reading the Guinness Book of World Records and marveling at the lengths to which people would go to achieve being the best, the fastest, the strongest, the first, all of that. The tallest man. The shortest woman. The shortest amount of time necessary to consume a bicycle. Yep, that’s a record as well. Don’t know if it includes the handlebar basket and the banana seat, but that’s another story.
The Times Union has encouraged several charitable record-setting events – including something a couple of years ago that involved the most number of people simultaneously performing a fist-bump – but participating in those kinds of endeavors wasn’t for me. I needed a participation record that would reflect how I feel in life.
So I participated – and have done so, for the past three years – in the social media site reddit’s “Secret Santa” program. And yes, this is the part of the blog where I mention that I do possess a love-hate relationship with reddit.
For whatever reservations I have with reddit, I do enjoy taking part of the Secret Santa program. Essentially, it works on the same level as the old Secret Santa games we played in grade school. Child A gave Child B a gift, while Child B gave Child C a gift. The idea was that nobody was supposed to know which person was matched up with whom. Thus, it became a “Secret Santa” game.
I first participated in the program in 2012, and followed it up with another run last year. In 2012, reddit’s Secret Santa program set a Guinness world record for the most number of participants in a “Secret Santa” program, as 44,805 redditors were part of the game. And, to commemorate the accomplishment, all 44,805 redditors – including me – had the opportunity to acquire a certificate of achievement from the Guinness Book of World Records.
Yep. Got my name on it and all.
So in 2013, I signed up once again to play the Secret Santa game. It was fun, I received some nice gifts and I sent some nice gifts. I also acted as a “rematcher,” and sent some gifts to people who got stiffed by Santas who were grinches in disguise.
And sure enough, Guinness came calling. According to Guinness, 89,421 people – more than twice the amount of last year’s Santa event – signed up for and participated in reddit’s Secret Santa 2013 game. You know what that means, don’tcha?
Yep. A second certificate.
So now I have a question. See, I have two of these little awards. But they’re both for the same accomplishment, albeit one that supersedes the other.
Would I be a two-time record holder participant, or a record holder that surpassed the previous record holder?
Ah, the theological questions.
Oh yeah, and in case you’re wondering…
I’m going to do the reddit Secret Santa 2014 run this year.
And from what I understand, there’s a possibility of over 100,000 participants in this year’s event.
Which means – yes – another world record to be broken.
Chuck The Writer 
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