- Is there anything the pandemic didn’t completely ruin?
The pandemic and the rising inflation have put a real damper on economies across the world. But at least you can always count on Santa to pull through for Christmas.
Right…?
We have some bad news for everybody looking forward to holly jolly merrymaking. Santa may not be coming to town this year.
After the world started heading toward a more normal direction this year, people across the Christmas-celebrating world started looking forward to a regular Silent Night. But although Santa’s not the slimmest individual, there’s just not enough of him to go around.
The world is struggling with a serious Santa shortage. As a result, some Christmas events — both public and private — may have to go without a visit from Kris Kringle.
Let’s take a look at what’s holding up Santa.
‘A Shortage of Santas’
Now, let us be clear: the actual, bona fide, genuine, real-deal Santa Claus will definitely drop in at every house where nice kids are waiting for him. But in the days leading up to Christmas, Santa is busy, so occasionally Santa impersonators represent him at various events.
It’s these impersonators that are the problem. Or, more precisely, the problem is that they aren’t there.
There’s a real drought of people willing to don a red suit and white beard this year to bring Christmas cheer to the masses. Santa hiring services all around just don’t have enough Santas sitting on the figurative shelves.
“We are turning down more events this year than we’ve ever turned down before. There’s definitely a shortage of Santas,” Mitch Allen, the founder and Head Elf of HireSanta.com, told NPR.
So, where have all the Santa substitutes gone? Their disappearance has two main reasons — the pandemic and inflation.
A Dwindling Santa Supply
As if the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t bad enough, it’s also a real Grinch. As the lockdowns kicked in and people began isolating themselves, a lot of Christmas events got unfortunately canceled.
With no events, nobody was hiring Santas. With no Santa gigs, the impersonators weren’t getting paid.
But they still had bills to pay. So, the substitute Santas went to do less jolly jobs.
Take, for example, the International Brotherhood of Real-Bearded Santas (IBRBS). Yes, that’s a real organization of Santa Claus impersonators with actual white beards.
According to IBRBS president and pro-Santa Stephen Arnold, the membership of the organization fell from 2,000 to 1,400 just in 2020.
“We’ve never seen a drop like that … a lot of people backed away and decided not to perform,” Arnold said.
However, not every Santa performer stopped running gigs because of money. Some of them met a sadder fate.
Jolly as it might be, a Santa-like physique isn’t the healthiest kind. Some Santas stopped performing because they were worried for their health.
Others, unfortunately, succumbed to the pandemic.
“You gotta remember — we’re all a little plump. Most of us are over the age of 60. We’re probably in many cases diabetic,” admitted Arnold.
“We had a much higher incidence of death.”
The Price of Being a Santa
But we’re (hopefully) past the worst of the pandemic now. So, what’s keeping Santas from going back to their Christmassy profession?
The inflation.
Some Santas have decided to hang up their red suits for good. That means there are fewer Santas to go around than usual.
And if you’ve paid any attention to basic economics, you’ll know that when demand goes up, so do the prices. Hiring a Santa this Christmas costs a lot more than it did three years ago.
That means some events simply can no longer afford a visit from Kris Kringle. But it’s not that Santas are greedy.
The costs of becoming a Santa have gone up as well due to the general inflation. Everything from Santa suits to the gas they need to drive to events has gone up in price.
Finally, merrymakers have developed more distinguished tastes. They now want the visiting Santa to have a real beard instead of a fake one.
Again, that increases the demand for real-bearded Santas, who again have to raise their prices to cope. Meanwhile, fake-breaded Santas go without gigs and have to do other things to keep food on the table.
So, if you happen to spot a Santa with a free lap anywhere, go and have a seat. You may not find another one, at least not this holiday season.
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