A Visit from Santa Claus and the Ghost of Mac Past
(With apologies to Clement C. Moore)
By Shirley Hershey, Editor of the MacPAc Printout

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring except me and my mouse.
I was filled with great joy; I was truly elated
O'er the very first database I had created
Suddenly, my monitor started to quiver.
My heart skipped a beat. Down my back coursed a shiver.
The trembling increased when out from the screen
Stepped a figure in red and a specter in green.
As I stared at the twosome, what I saw gave me pause
For the figure in red was dear Santa Claus;
In the color of money was Sculley,* the Ghost of Mac Past.
'Twas puzzling! 'Twas eerie! I was appalled and aghast!
The next thing that happened was even more weird.
Into thin air, my Mac disappeared.
In its place was a typewriter with an IBM logo.
I moaned and I groaned and I shrieked: "No! No! No! No!"
A more terrible sight had I never seen.
Hoarsely, I queried: What can this mean?"
Santa responded: "Never fear! Here's your Present."
What transpired next was decidedly pleasant:
With a wink of an eye, Santa reached in his sack
From which he extracted a Power-ful Mac.
Then up the chimney he flew and-alas and alack!
The Ghost, with an axe, hacked to pieces my Mac.
I staggered to bed, shattered, weary, forlorn,
And fell fast asleep 'til late Christmas morn.
When I arose, I found 'neath the tree
A gaily-wrapped box that was tagged just for me.
I opened the box and (surely, you've guessed)
Within was a PowerMac. I had been blessed.
Memory of my nightmare drifted away.
'Twas indeed MERRY CHRISTMAS! A glorious day!



*For those of you who don't know or can't remember, John Sculley 
is the former Apple CEO who was hired in May 1983 by Steve Jobs, 
Apple co-founder and "father" of the Macintosh. In September 1985, 
Sculley fired Jobs. When Sculley left Apple, he departed greatly 
enriched by his earnings which included millions of dollars worth 
of Apple stock. Current Apple CEO is Michael Spindler.