Father links son's suicide to learning that Santa Claus isn't real.

It started at the mall. The boy, 22 years old, got in line, and when it was his turn, and in spite of protests by mothers waiting with their young children, he sat on Santa's lap. What happened next was bedlam. Santa, an unemployed securities trader for Lehman Brothers, was in no mood to humor a delusional 22 year old and in a moment of frustration yelled at the kid, "What the hell is the matter with you, there is no fucking Santa Claus, it's a myth you dumb ass." Children waiting in line started crying, and mothers started screaming at Santa. The boy in a state of shock just wandered off.

Later that evening the boys parents found him in the bathtub, the water a Christmas red, the boy a pale white, and a letter to Santa on the floor. The boy was quite dead.

His father is angry with the mall for hiring such an unsympathetic Santa. "The mall has a responsibility not to undermine my boy's belief," he said. "It's like putting a toddler in front of my car. I want to hold the mall responsible for what they're teaching our kids." "This was malpractice," he said.

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