”Dear Santa, I want a man for Christmas.”
Such requests mark a new trend on New Zealand Telecom’s Santaline, traditionally dominated by children seeking bicycles, dolls and toys.
”Listen Santa, I want a new man this Xmas. I broke the last one,” said one e-mail.
”Hi Santa, I have been very good this year … I would like a new man for Christmas and the new year please,” said another.
”Could you please send me an elf to do the dishes? Make him a cute little sexy one, and I would prefer that he cannot talk, burp, or talk about rugby or politics,” was another request.
”They’ve been quite specific,” Telecom’s Pam Wong told Radio New Zealand. ”Traditionally, Santaline has been targeted for kids. This time it has evolved to include the parents, but even females in their twenties and thirties are e-mailing us to say ‘hey, really we’d like a man’.”
”It’s really all about social change,” she said. ”Women are a lot more comfortable with talking about what they want — it’s just another example of women expressing their feelings.”
What are the chances of their wishes being granted?
”Well, we’re sending all these through to Santa,” Wong said. ”Time will tell.” — Sapa-DPA