Tomorrow, (Dec 21) is the last day of school before Christmas break. It seems fitting that I should publish this article about the last day of school Christmas 2005.
If you ask a group of 1st or 2nd graders what they want to be when they grow up, you will get a myriad of answers. Kids want to be like people they admire. Police, Firefighters, Teachers and Movie or Sports stars are among the popular choices. One occupation you will likely never hear from this group is Santa Claus. Santa is too big, too magical and too wonderful to be considered as a career. Besides, most kids know there is only one true Santa and the big guy himself already has that job.
So how does one become Santa? What makes a perfectly sane man grow a long beard, don a red suit and invite children and sometimes adults, to sit on his lap and tell him their most intimate wishes? Let me let you in on a Santa secret that only guys in the red suit know. You don't find Santa; Santa finds you.
One day you look in the mirror and the red beard you've sported most of your adult life is no longer red. Much as you try to keep it neatly trimmed to make people mistake you for Sean Connery, your general body build always gives you away. As hefty as Kenny Rogers is he still has more hair than you and Burt Reynolds can afford a much better toupee than you can.
Kids start asking if you are "him" and soon adults do too. You start to prefer red jackets, shirts and ball caps and you're not even a NC State fan. Then one day you walk into a salon and Santa walks out. How did you get to this point?
Every Professional Santa I know has had a defining moment. Something theologians call an "aha" experience or an epiphany. The moment when doubt ceases and faith begins. When you no longer think you may make a good Santa but know with every cell of your being that you are Santa. Mine goes like this…
I had been driving a school bus for 3 years, having decided that I really liked working with kids more that I wanted to manage people. I had worked my way up to a countywide standby position and was the night dispatcher for the 24th largest school bus fleet in the nation. In short I was a problem solver and the resident "go to" guy. It was the last day of school before the Christmas break and I had been assigned to an elementary school where I had never driven before. It's been my habit to wear an inexpensive Santa hat around the holidays and I decided to wear one to drive in that afternoon. I thought it might be fun to have "Santa" drive the kids though it was a clear violation of school policy. I was totally unprepared for what happened next.
As the younger kids boarded first most were totally stunned. There in the regular driver's place was a big guy with a real gray beard wearing a red jacket and a Santa hat, the day before Christmas break! Some of them asked in quiet voices full of awe, " Are you him? Are you really here?" I told them I was and their parents had asked me to check in on them to make sure they were really being good. As the upper grades boarded they were more skeptical but seeing the reaction of the younger students, decided it would be okay to play along. I don't know how long it's been since you've been on a school bus but I can tell you it is a noisy, rowdy place. This is especially true if you are a substitute driver like me. You could hear a pin drop most of the trip. It was the best bus ride I had ever had! No one, I mean not a single kid, misbehaved. The magic of Christmas had found my school bus on a cold afternoon in December. Santa had found me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment