Santa is Wired! Series #4

This article is #4 in a series and is Copyright August 2005 by
http://www.santaclausca.com, Loring Windblad and Windy Dawn
Marketing and is based upon Loring’s experiences as Santa for
the past 37 years. This article may be freely copied and used on
other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and
text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for
minor improvements such as misspellings and typos. Santa is
wired! What? What is “wired”? I’ll never forget that first
Christmas the Grandkids came to visit Santa and what my daughter
told me afterwards. They had been standing in line and the
little boy in front of them was jumping up and down and saying
“Daddy, Daddy, thank you so much for bringing me to see the
‘real’ Santa.”
At the mall I work at I was wired – and actually all the Santa’s
were wired. The mall I work at was “split in half” by a main
highway right through the middle. This made two distinct malls,
one which was geared more for younger people and one more for
adults, although neither was an “exclusive”.
The mall more oriented to the adults had a Santa House where the
kids could wait their turn sitting at a table, coloring in
books, and under careful supervision of elves and Mrs. Claus,
all separated visually from Santa and his visit. If the parents
wanted, the options were not only for a standard photograph of
the child with Santa but for a Video Visit with Santa. So Santa
was twice wired, once with his elf, to receive information about
the child, and once with the video camera to get both sides of
the visit recorded on the tape. The object was to have at least
a 4-5 minute visit with the child, and if more than one child
then at least 2-3 minutes with each child. In order to make a
good video presentation you must go at least 4 minutes and
preferably a little longer.
On the other mall the object was to try to give at least 1-1½
minutes with each child but not to hold up the line. Here people
just stood in line until it was their turn to visit Santa and
the line was usually about a half-hour long, if not longer.
Being wired meant I had an elf who had a radio and who fed me
tidbits to help convince the child that Santa really was real,
and maybe gain an insight into not only what the child wanted
(why the child was there to talk to Santa) but also what the
child was actually getting – what they wanted or something else.
Being wired meant I also didn’t have to worry about what the
child was asking for and what the child was getting for
Christmas – I knew because Santa’s Elf gave Santa that
information on the radio while talking to Mom or Dad. Sometimes
the radio would use up the battery and we had to muddle through
until a break, but not often because the rule was “new batteries
every shift day”! But it happened and Santa had to develop
strategies to cover till he could change batteries. No, it would
never do to be right there in front of the kids and change
batteries on a radio! There are distinct benefits to being
wired. You get to “convince” the marginal child that Santa
really is real, to “restore the magic of Christmas” to someone
who is about to lose it. There is nothing like a visit that goes
“Well, Shawn (ooops, how did he know my name?), you must have
wanted to ask Santa something really special for Christmas?” The
kid, with a big smile, Yes, I did, Santa. I want…..
“Well, Shawn, before we get into that, isn’t there something we
need to take care of first?” What’s that, Santa? “Now as I
remember, your dog’s name is Red Rover and you sure don’t want
him to bite Santa for forgetting his Christmas treat, do you?”
Oh, no, Santa. “Let’s see, what did we get him last year? Was it
a North Pole Doggy Treat or a North Pole bone, or was it a toy?
Do you remember? Yes or no – if yes, it was a bone! Well, what
do you think we should get him (or her) this year? Something
different or maybe the same thing?” You are coaxing feedback
from the child here. Participation with Santa always helps make
a good visit.
Then you say “Oh, by the way, Shawn, you know Mrs. McGruder,
don’t you?” Ummm, who’s she? “Why, isn’t Mrs. McGruder your
favorite teacher over at Riverdale School?” You will usually get
a grin and a yes, here, and maybe ‘how did you know that?’
“Well, Mrs. McGruder thinks you’re pretty special, too, you
know, and one of her best students. Ooooops! Shawn, shhhhhh! I’m
not supposed to tell you that, so promise you’ll keep it a
secret and not let Mrs. McGruder know I let it slip out.” Ok, I
can do that. “Wow, thanks. Now can you do Santa a big favor,
Shawn?” yes. “Next time you go back to school will you tell Mrs.
McGruder that Santa says thanks for being such a good teacher
and Merry Christmas.” And Shawn will be delighted to help.
”Let’s see, Shawn, you were coming to ask Santa about a special
Christmas present. You wanted a Hot Wheels Loop the Loop and
Garage Set, right?” How did you know that, Santa? “Didn’t you
already send in your Christmas letter to Santa?” Yes. Oh, that
makes sense. You now have made a very special Christmas for a
child and kept a believer in Santa at the same time.
I’ll never forget one young lady, a 14-year-old immigrant from
India on her first visit to Santa. Mom and Dad were carefully
feeding information to me, best friends, school, favorite
teacher, pets, brothers and sisters, etc. We had a great visit
and she left one of the happiest kids I’ve ever seen. Next day
she came back, took her turn in the line and said “Santa, you’re
so wonderful. I never believed before, but I believe. You are
wonderful. Everybody’s got to believe!” I see this coming, the
long slow curve – with the very fast break on the end – I just
didn’t know how fast that break was? “So I’ve brought my four
best friends and you’ve gotta make them believe, too.” Oooops!
I gave it my best shot, I remembered their teacher, their school
and a few other bits from the previous day’s visit, but it
wasn’t quite the same.
There’s an upside to the “wired” bit. And there’s a definite
downside, as well. But a lot of malls are wired, so you must be
prepared if you’re going to be a successful Mall Santa.