December 22, 2025
By December 22, my thoughts stop behaving.
They don’t line up neatly anymore. They wander. They jump tracks. They get distracted by things that are not especially important but somehow feel worth following.
That’s how I ended up thinking about elves and wages.
If elves were paid in candy canes, what would be their minimum wage?
It sounds like a joke question. It is a joke question. But it’s also the kind of question that opens doors you didn’t plan to walk through.
Because the moment you try to answer it, you realize you need to know a lot more about how things work.
And that’s where today’s Thought of the Day quietly enters the room.
Thought of the Day: “Kindness is not an act, it is a posture.” – Krista Tippett
Posture is what your body does when your mind is busy elsewhere.
It’s how you stand in line.
How you sit at the table.
How you respond when you’re interrupted and already tired.
You don’t plan posture. You default to it.
And December is the month that reveals defaults.
Not because people are worse in December. Because people are fuller. Carrying more lists, more coordination, more small obligations stacked on top of each other.
By December 22, most of us are not deciding how to be kind. We’re reacting.
Which is why this quote lands harder than it looks.
Kindness as an act is something you perform. It’s intentional. It often happens when you have energy to spare.
Kindness as a posture shows up when you don’t.
It shows up in tone.
In pace.
In whether your first response is sharp or soft when nothing important is actually on the line.
That doesn’t make posture good or bad. It just makes it honest.
Back to the elvesand our Question of the Day
If Elves were paid in Candy Canes, what would be their minimum wage?
Let’s get practical.
Are candy canes money?
Or are they food?
Or are they company issued credits that only work at Santa approved locations?
Because those are wildly different compensation models.
If candy canes are money, then we need an exchange rate. How many candy canes buy a loaf of bread at the North Pole? Does bread exist there or is everything peppermint adjacent?
If candy canes are food, then that is not payment. That is a ration. Which raises questions about whether elves are allowed to purchase anything that is not red, white, or aggressively minty.
And if candy canes are company scrip, then congratulations, Santa has invented SantaBucks. Probably with an expiration date of December 26 and no cash value after that.
Expenses change everything. Minimum wage does not exist in a vacuum.
Do elves pay rent? Or do they live in shared housing with bunk beds and unsettlingly cheerful wallpaper?
Does Santa provide meals?
Is room and board included?
Or is there a cafeteria where candy canes are somehow both payment and the most expensive item on the menu?
If Santa feeds them, then candy canes are basically fun money. Which means minimum wage is about quality of life.
Which brings us to an important question.
How much does a tankard of eggnog cost after work?
If one drink costs three candy canes, morale is probably fine. If one drink costs ten candy canes, people are going straight home and staring at the wall instead.
Is there a happy hour?
Is the eggnog spiked?
Is there one elf who always orders something non festive and makes everyone uncomfortable?
Inflation is unavoidable
Candy canes are seasonal. This is not up for debate.
December candy canes are everywhere. January candy canes are suspicious. July candy canes are rare artifacts discovered in junk drawers.
So does inflation exist at the North Pole? Is there a peppermint reserve adjusting supply? Are there counterfeit candy canes? Is someone hoarding striped wealth in a locker behind the toy workshop?
None of these questions need answers. That is the fun part.
If today’s post felt familiar, you might want to wander through the archive where the daily Questions and Thoughts live. There’s no order you have to follow.
And if you ever want these posts to just show up quietly in your inbox each morning, the daily email exists too. No urgency. Just there.
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