When informing people of my career they often ask, 'but what do you actually do?' in a way that suggests they think we just stand around all day looking elvish. When it's not busy, that's pretty much accurate. Sometimes we eat chocolate or make chitchat to Santa or make fun of the children, but that's not our official role.
There are three main positions in the grotto. Front till, photos and back till. Each has its pros and cons.
At the front you are responsible for explaining the seemingly incomprehensible pricing system to the parents and getting them to decide what they want. Telling me, 'two to see Santa', is no help whatsoever. I need to know if you want gifts, what age you want the gifts for, if you want a photo, how many photos you want, if you want any of those photos on a magnet or keyring instead - it can take awhile. On the front you are also responsible for taking down the child's name, but more about that later. You then have to ring it all in the till, make allowances for last minute changes and the fact granny now wants extra photos, and give the customer the 'magic ticket' (receipt) to hold on to till their turn. Hold on to, not shove it back in your bag where you will not be able to find it when you are asked for it a few minutes later. Depending on the length of the queue, you then move on to the next person. If there is no next person you make awkward conversation with the child and/or adult until it's time to see Santa. You also play 'guess which child will cry the most' internally in your head.
When there is extra staff a fourth position is created. The easiest position of all. The 'Bringer In'. All this requires you to do is take the 'magic ticket' off the child/adult, gather the correct presents from the age and gender coded present sacks, and get the child's name to Santa. You then return to the queue and lead them round. Your job is done. No money, no questions, no complaints - you are the bringer of good things, the fulfiller of dreams.
On a normal day the photo taker is also the bringer in-er. This causes some difficulty as usually the child runs ahead and there is a buggy and several extended family members between you and the camera. There is a fair bit of pressure being the photo taker. It's essentially your fault if they don't get the perfect pictorial memory of (insert child's name here)'s (insert number here) st/nd/rd/th (delete as appropriate) Christmas. It's not; it's probably either screaming child or annoying parent's fault, but you will be blamed none the less. This position requires the patience to politely move parents out of the way of the photo, and try 101 ways to make Junior smile, or at least not cry. If they're looking at the camera I'm usually happy enough. But some parents aren't, and it can turn into a 20 minute photo shoot.
The last position is at the back, printing out the photos. With the majority of customers this is fine. If they've asked for 15 keyrings it can be a bit time consuming but as long as the printers working it's quite a satisfying job. The printer does however, break once a day. With the parent who demanded a 20 minute photo shoot it will take at least another 20 minutes for them to decide which one you are allowed to print. For the less insistent parent, I've begun choosing the photo myself and only showing them one, which with overdone compliments about how well their child looks, I convince them to take. Much less time consuming.
The only other position I haven't mentioned is, of course, Santa. I've sat in the chair a couple of times. It was pretty comfy.
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