Poor little Ralphie Parker. All he wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle. He asks his mom, and she says, "You'll shoot your eye out!" He writes an essay about it for his teacher, she gives him a C+ and writes, "You'll shoot your eye out!" What's a little boy to do? He decides to go straight to the source — Santa. Surely, the right jolly ol' man will make his Christmas dreams come true, right? Except Ralphie manages to find the meanest, scariest Santa in the history of department store Santas. Intimindated by the grimacing St. Nick and his not-so-merry helpers, Ralphie blanks on what he wants to ask for. He finally remembers as he is being thrown down the exit slide by a grouchy elf. He blurts out his desire, to which Santa replies, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas! Ho...ho... ho!" before shoving his boot in Ralphie's face.