Interview with Santa the Weekend B4 New Years
He Said it's Been a Disappointing Holiday, but that Wasn't Unexpected
I bumped into Santa over the holiday season. He looked a bit tired and thinner than he was last time I interviewed him a few years ago. I asked him if he had contracted CoVid, because he has a couple of underlying health conditions that might put him at risk - like being overweight and being over 65.
He told me NO, in NO uncertain terms, that he did not have CoVid and that he and Mrs. Claus and the elves had quarantined for the past 364 days leading up to Christmas, so that they could be sure that everything they delivered on Christmas day would NOT have even the slightest possibility of being infected. He said that he had also installed sanitizer equipment on all the production lines to be doubly sure the products being shipped from Santa's Workshop were TOTALLY SAFE.
He seemed less jolly than in prior years, which I asked about. He told me that he'd been doing the same gig for centuries, and yes, he was more tired than usual. He commented that he was especially irritable, probably due to the added stress on things caused by the pandemic. He also noted that the extra hassle of quarantining toy parts and what not, before putting them into production at his North Pole toy factory, had turned out to be - pardon his French - a pain in the ass.
- CLICK here for the rest of our short interview with Santa in NYC during the CoVid pandemic of 2020.
Interview with Santa the Weekend B4 New Years
He Said it's Been a Disappointing Holiday, but that Wasn't Unexpected
He said he was sorry he couldn't swap out his toy production capacity for food production, as he knew many families were bereft of some of the basic necessities - even rent. So this year, he commented, toys seemed a bit superfluous, especially during these heavy times. I asked him for a ho, ho, ho, Meerrryyy Christmas, which he managed to summon up, in spite of himself. And he quickly added ... "and have a Happy New Year".
That's Santa, who like a lot of people this year, is carrying on in spite of everything.
I wanted to pass that along to you, because while the world is always changing, some traditions stay relatively unchanged. Perhaps that is why we cherish them or cling to them, depending on your point of view. More coming Monday, with the possibility of a bit more from my interview with one of the longest lasting celebrities of all time, Santa Claus.