Santas face job risks being cheery: survey

[janbo1960]

Saying "ho,ho, ho" is practically a Christmas miracle, given the job woes that shopping mall and store Santas face each day, an US survey says.

Santas get sneezed upon up to 10 times a day, fend off children pulling their beards and mop up after children who frequently wet their laps, the survey of hundreds of men who work as seasonal Santa Claus characters says.

A third of all Santas reported having been wet on by a child, the survey says.

Nearly 90 per cent of Santas say children pull their beard everyday to see if it was real and nearly half say children try to pull their glasses off every day as well, the survey found.

More than 60 per cent of Santas say they are sneezed or coughed upon up to 10 times each day, and three-quarters say they have up to 10 children cry while sitting on their laps every day, it says.

Santas can suffer back strain from lifting children, exposure to contagious illnesses and overheating in their heavy Santa suits, head of the Santa association, Timothy Connaghan, said.

"There is more to it than just sitting in a chair. There is more to it than just a red suit," Mr Connaghan said, who has worked as a Santa for 38 years.

"Children can really put the wear and tear on you."

More than three-quarters of the children say they have been good during the year, but only half the Santas believe the children are telling the truth, the survey says.

[IRiSHMaFIA]

I never knew there was a Santa Association. Are they located in the North Pole?

That sounds like one hell of a rotten job to do. They always show Santa's as pisstanks in films, and maybe they are because they've pickled themselves so they don't catch all the colds and such when children are coughing and sneezing on them.

That'd totally suck being pissed on and all the rest. I'd rather starve!

[Skylace]

Poor Santas

[IRiSHMaFIA]

[Skylace]

[faceless]

[eefanincan]

[Kezza]

I had a friend at uni (theatre major) who was hired by a local shopping mall as their official Santa Claus.

He really enjoyed doing it -- never heard any complaints from him, even though the job didn't pay much.

I do, however, recommend the movie "Bad Santa" -- found that to be really funny. Also enjoyed the Will Ferrell movie, "Elf" as well as my fave "un-Christmas" Christmas movie "Scrooged" (starring Bill Murray). ("Have you tried STAPLES?")

[Gasman59]

The whole "Santa job" is one I wouldn't want for all the money in the world. Kids acting like little terrors and you can't even crack them... lol