I was one of the last kids in my elementary school class to know that there was no such person as Santa Claus. I don't remember the grade anymore... 4th, maybe? But a kid in the class made an off-hand reference to their parents being Santa and the teacher interrupted them saying that it was possible not everyone knew that. The kid seemed incredulous, so the teacher checked with the class.

"Does anyone here still believe in Santa Claus?"

Now, I was never an idiot. I followed the conversation just fine and realized the implication of the question. It's a question that wouldn't need to be asked if there were such a person as Santa Claus. Confused, I half-raised my hand and so did maybe one or two other kids-- I don't think my memory has filled them in so I wasn't the only one acknowledging that I was still living in ignorance.

And if I started to realize the truth when the question was asked, the fact that the classroom was full of arms that were not raised in support of Claus-belief started me down a path. Once home, I asked my mother if Santa Claus were real. Rather than give me a straight answer, she went into a back room and got a book that she must have squirreled away for just such an occasion.

Its title was "Is There a Santa Claus?"

An avid reader, I tore through the book, which told the tale of the real life Saint Nicholas and ended talking about how we celebrate his generosity and legacy and so on and so forth each Christmas. But it seemed to dodge the central question. Of course there was a St. Nick, I knew that... that wasn't my question.

My mom seemed almost a little sad and confused when I gave her the book back and asked again. Unable to avoid it, she admitted that there was no Santa.

And I was crushed.

It wasn't the loss of that red-suited figure that wounded me. It was the sudden realization that something I had never questioned in my life because it had been told to me as fact was in fact untrue. That my parents had been lying to me, tricking me, making me a fool... and why? Was the value gained in that belief worth the sudden feeling that I couldn't trust anything they said?

I could draw a line from this moment to my eventual parting with the Catholic belief that had also been given to me and perhaps we could consider it the seed of a lack of trust, a cynicism, that I still have regarding authorities and honesty.

So there's that.

Also: 3 seconds spent on Google - http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mt-edward/cadbury.htm