Everyone recognizes Santa Claus when they see him. He’s a big man in a red suit with a white beard and rosy cheeks! Every Santa has his own variations, but this is generally what we think of when we hear his name.
So, when Sophie Jo Riley went shopping with her dad and older sister at Walmart around the holiday season, and she spotted a white-bearded man wearing a red button-up shirt, she instantly assumed it was the same man who would be filling her stocking on Christmas morning!
“She was just sneaking around the aisle, had her back against the toys,” Sophie’s older sister, Miya Lupashunski, said to WSAZ News. “We were behind her, and she’d put her finger up to her lips and go ‘Shh! It’s Santa!’”
Although Sophie was trying to keep hush-hush to give Mr. Claus some privacy while he shopped for Christmas toys, she eventually approached him. “Santa?”
The Santa lookalike’s real name is Roger Larck, but of course, he didn’t want to tell Sophie that and ruin her holiday spirit.
Jokingly, Larck responded with, “I’ve been called worse.” Then he immediately engages in a friendly, Santa-like conversation with her, even asking her if she’s “been a good girl this year.”
The whole time, Sophie seems so thrilled to meet one of her favorite bearded men! And, as expected, the toddler tells the man what she wants for Christmas. The cutie even makes it clear to him that he’s only allowed to take one cookie when he drops down her chimney Christmas night and to give the rest to his reindeer!
Sophie’s interaction with Larck not only made her day but Larck’s as well. Sophie’s dad, Robert Riley, confronted Larck after the Walmart interaction and was pleased to learn that it was “the best present he has received for a long time.”
While it certainly put a smile on his face, Larck had absolutely no idea he’d be mistaken for Santa, despite choosing to wear the red garment.
“I’m tickled I’ve been a part of something that other people have enjoyed,” Larck continues. “It was just me having a conversation with a little girl. It melted my heart when it happened.”
The world needs more people like Larck: kind, patient, great with kids, and imaginative.
“It was very kind of him to kneel down and speak with her like that. These are the moments that restore my faith that there are still a lot of really good people out there,” says a commenter on the video.
Due to the popularity the video received online, Sophie and her father were later asked to be featured on multiple shows, including a talk show where she shared her Christmas wishes with Larck, AKA, “Santa Claus” in front of millions!
Click the video below to listen to Sophie and “Santa’s” full conversation at their local Walmart.
