Christmas with Santa
It started with a phone call in mid-November. Between jobs, I was temping at a county workforce development office. The caller was almost in panic mode. She hired the staff for Santa photos in malls in our area. A manager had resigned; she needed a replacement right away. I asked what the job entailed — managing the staff, hiring elves, taking photos of children, running the stage area, scheduling, timesheets and bank deposits. “I can do all that,” I said. And so it began.
An Assistant Manager and three Santas had been hired, I needed one more. A gentleman I knew had performed for years in the local production of “A Christmas Carol.” He was perfect. A bunch of elves was easy: my son and his high school. lady friends were all hired. The opening parade the length of the mall was fun, and I looked forward to this new adventure.
None of my 17-year-old elves stayed to help clean up or do deposit slips. Their parents picked them up at 9PM, and they were gone.
My Santas were allowed water or soda on the set, but would have to go to the office, remove the costume, go to the public restroom then go back and put on costume. I guess Santa is not allowed to be seen relieving himself by little children. The lawyer said, “I don’t need this,” and quit. My son became Santa, a good one but who did not like taking orders from the Manager.
Some help for me came less than two weeks before Christmas. A neighbor who’d just finished her college semester was able to come in the evening as Assistant Manager. This became my dinner break, Christmas shopping, card writing and cleaning up the office time. She went home at 9PM and I finished up.
I said, “It’s okay, that’s my son.” Of course I no longer had a morning elf helping with the photos, taking payments or fetching water.
Was this a truly memorable Christmas for us? Yes, but not in a good way. Full of peace, love and joy? Would we ever consider doing it again? Absolutely not.