It does my heart good to see so much good long work in the newspapers today. I’m sure I’ve missed a hundred others, but it’s because I’ve been wrapped up in these. Michael Levensohn’s 15,000-word, ridiculously well-reported Teflon Don (Now that’s a photograph); Vanessa Gezari’s 6,500-word Trapped In The Safety Net; and tiny by comparison is S.I. Rosenbaum’s 2,100-word Santa’s workshops, which brought us fantastic stuff like this: Surrounded by more experienced Santas, Jim is a little intimidated. Compared to them, he’s an amateur. He has only one Christmas under his big black belt.
He was working in sales for a tech company. Growing out his beard was his little way of sticking it to corporate. People told him he looked like a street person. Then, one night, his granddaughter Edie told him he looked like Santa.
Wow, he thought. Maybe so.
He hired a seamstress to sew him a custom velvet suit. He tried on the suit and discovered a gift for jolliness. He felt free. As Christmas loomed, he found Santa jobs at schools and private parties.
The work was exhausting. Sometimes he performed at four parties a night. But he loved it, especially when parents and teachers told him about the difference he made to their children.
Then, in February, he lost his job at the tech company. Downsized. He started to think about making a living from Santa.
That’s why he’s spending the weekend in Branson, among the professionals. He wants to network, make connections, get discovered. He has visions of acting in television commercials, modeling for print advertising. He’s even contemplating a gig as a mall Santa.
His resume reads:
Jolly Demeanor
Warm, Twinkling Eyes
Communicates well with a diverse population
Mature, compassionate, dependable and responsible individual
Professionally educated in the Santa craft.
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