Claus-trophobia December 10, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christmas, Core Values, Seeker spirituality, U.S. Culture.Tags: Santa Claus, Values
2 comments
I noted with some fascination the annual terrorizing of little children by a loud, aggressive man in a red and white suit. (yes, I mean Santa Claus) This wonderful, jolly, happy icon of Christmas is supposedly the sweetest mythical human being on the face of the planet, yet many children are absolutely horrified by his physical presence. Children wait to “meet Santa,” then shriek in terror and run away. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. Whenever I see a child afraid of Santa, I think of one Tennessee Claus a few years back that defines for me “scary.” I stopped at one of those roadside novelty dives — located about every three miles across the entire state of Tennessee — where cheap knickknacks and discount tobacco products fills the shelves. At one particular site near Oak Ridge I saw a Santa to give nightmares for years — a tall, spindly, snaggle-toothed figure with a glass eye and a badly stained suit and beard. He wreaked of cigarette smoke and his voice was loud and gruff and he actively chased children and forced them to sit on his lap. Little children were screaming and hysterical, parents were pulling their children away, and Santa was cackling and slapping his knee each time another child broke into tears. In a very real sense, this guy was Satan Claus, not Santa Claus.
How does this happen? How can a beloved figure become such a source of discomfort? Even in the best of times, a large, loud, blustery stranger is going to make many kids nervous. But in the past few years, the kind of Santas provided makes it even worse. An article from Primedia shared some interesting data. There are almost 250,000 Santas employed each year in the U.S. The majority of these are unemployed people picking up a year-end gig. The majority receive no training, and they are responsible to obtain their own costume and accessories. In other words, we want all the benefits of Santa with none of the costs. To serve as Santa is not so much an honor as it is a last resort. For good or ill, this impacts the quality of the experience for everyone involved.
