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Confessions From Mall Santas: Experiences On The Job

Anne Artley |
December 8, 2013 | 5:30 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

 

Interactive "Ice Palace" at the Beverly Center (Anne Artley)
Interactive "Ice Palace" at the Beverly Center (Anne Artley)
The mall becomes a magical place during Christmas: the decorations, discounts, the Mariah Carey mix ringing from the speakers and of course the presence of Santa himself. Many kids can remember the moment of truth, perched on Santa’s knee, with the smells from the food court wafting through the air as they recall that one special gift they would like to see under the tree. And whether you loved this rite of passage or hated it, your parents probably have a faded Polaroid somewhere. Well it turns out the experience is just as memorable for Santa.  Check out what these mall Santas have said on Reddit during their pilgrimage from the North Pole. 

From ex-santa:

“Teenagers like to sit on your lap and try to 'shock' you (which probably works with many Santas but I was pretty young when I did the job). One evening this rocker girl came in with her friends and sat on my lap and when I asked her what she wanted for xmas, she said, "Kurt Cobain's body."

So I put on this guilty act and replied, "Oh, I still feel really bad about that 'cause I gave him the gun."

Rubikscanopener said:

“I was a mall Santa once in college. I'm from the Northeast US and college was in the Deep South. My elves were girls from a local business school who were running the mall Santa thing as a senior project.

The best thing that happened was when a bunch of the elves' friends showed up and whispered some very unladylike things in Santa's ears, just to see how red they could make Santa's cheeks.

The funniest was one little kid who, after I had been chatting with him for a while, looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Santa, you sound like a Yankee!" After a few seconds of frantic desperation, I simply told him, "Well, that's because I live at the NORTH Pole." He found the logic inescapable, plus me promising him a football helped.”

Also from ex-santa:

Santa's Workshop at The Grove (Anne Artley)
Santa's Workshop at The Grove (Anne Artley)
“Santa can give as good as he gets. My friends & I used to come up with Santa challenges. One day I had to do a whole shift using Mr. T phrases, 'I pity the fool who don't like Xmas!' and asking the kids if they wanted Mr. T dolls for Xmas.”

Quantum-Mechanix said:

“When I was a freshman in college, I got a gig as a mall Santa at a smaller local mall. A little girl came up to me and sat on my lap. I asked her in the most jovial way what she wanted for Christmas. She pulls out a picture of her dead dog and says, "Can you bring my dog back?" The look on her face when I said no was heart-wrenching.”

And from here at The Grove in Los Angeles:

“One little girl asked me for a rock, some sand and a frog. I asked her if she wanted to make a terrarium and she said yes. I’ve had another girl ask me for a pink flower and one four-year-old for a chocolate ice cream cone. One three-year-old wanted a saxophone so he could take lessons.”

Old as he is, Santa has been there for it all:

“The youngest I’ve seen is a seven day old baby and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman on her birthday. She had never taken a photo with Santa. She said there was nothing like that when she was young. For one Christmas, she got a doll made out of material around the house because her mom used what was there.”

“I’ve noticed a change in the last two years. Young girls are asking for Legos and young boys are asking for American Girl dolls.”

And despite their sometimes-reputation as spoiled brats, Santa knows that not all California kids are naughty, but nice:

“Recently, a 10-year-old girl wrote me a request: she didn’t want me to bring her toys, but to bring things for the kids impacted by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.”

Merry Christmas!

Reach Staff Reporter Anne Artley here.



 

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