We saw this article on Yahoo.com
Berlin is facing an acute shortage of Santas just a month before Christmas, the head of a Father Christmas placement agency said Monday.
The director of Berlin’s “Heinzelmaennchen” agency, which provides Santas to thousands of Berlin families every Christmas Eve, said he was having trouble getting enough qualified help.
“We prefer chubby men, of course, ideally with a real beard but we’re not picky and take what we get,” said director Rene Heydeck, whose official title is Ober-Weinachtsmann (chief Santa Claus).
The Santas, many of whom are students, earn 28 euros ($37) a visit for bringing a sack of presents provided by the parents into each home and handing them out. But Santas must also pay 45 euros for a costume and give the agency 15 percent of earnings.
“In a lot of families in Berlin it’s a tradition that carries on even after the children grow older and stop believing,” Heydeck said.
Each Santa visits an average of 10 to 12 families, although some have managed up to 20.
“It’s hard work and sometimes you have to run faster if you fall behind schedule,” Heydeck said. “But it’s great fun.”
All over the country and even the world retailers are looking for elderly fat man with white beards who can pose as Santa Claus and promise kids toys and goodies they will probably never receive. If they can’t find the jolly old white bearded guy, they will settle for someone who wants the job who doesn’t mind wearing pillows under his costume and itchy false hair and beards. For that matter, he may not mind nervous little children drooling or otherwise relieving themselves on his red tunic.
Back in the days of yore, Corra remembers come Christmas and even old winos had a shot at the job. They may have been crusty and such, but most were benign and seldom breached their compact with the children. But those were different times, and today a retail Santa could really be a pervert, even on someone on a sexual offender’s registry. While many retailers check out whom they hire, others only pretend to and in desperation give the applicant the job.
If you think not, last year CBS News ran a television segment where CBS had one of its staff pose as a convicted
felon and sexual offender, replete with a record of convictions. He applied for a Santa gig in five shopping centers in the Los Angeles area and was accepted everywhere. When CBS confronted the hiring parties with the news they had just hired a pervert, three swore they had conducted background searches, and one didn’t return any calls.
The point of all this, as a hiring retailer, employing a sexual offender, a child molester, as Santa Claus is a really bad idea. It leaves you and your business open for liability and all sorts of bad publicity. The only way to determine whether someone has a record is to run a background check and make sure what he puts on his resume is on the up and up.
So help us all share a wonderful holiday season. Don’t be putting a child on the lap of a sexual offender. Run a serious background check. For the few bucks you spend, it will do you wonders in preventing litigation and creating good will. Remember, these are children we are dealing with, after all. Our job is to protect them from those who could ruin their young lives.
As Corra says, check them out before you hire.
