Sunday, December 02, 2007

Christmas Kickoff...Complete With Crocs And A Six-Pack

Now that it's December, we here at the Dept. can officially recognize the Christmas Season. I really feel like I've given Thanksgiving its due, right down to serving leftover turkey dans la sandwiches avec la sauce d'airelle for at least one dinner when I didn't feel up to actually cooking something. (Hey! I used some lovely Hungarian bread that I had to slice, even! Gimme a break.)

But I digress.

As readers may recall, we had something of a controversy last year when I inadvertently jumped the gun on the Season, but there has been no such breach of Holiday Etiquette this year. Tradition is a powerful thing, especially at holiday time. And the people at Staten Island Mall certainly learned it the hard way this year.

Marketing manager David Albertson made up his mind to get innovative this year at the shopping mecca and decided to depict a Santa at home on Mondays through Thursdays. When stay-at-home Moms in the Staten Island, NY, area would bring their wide-eyed tots in for a Kris Kringle visit, they'd find Santa a bit more casually dressed. Rather than outfitted in his traditional red velvet suit trimmed in white fur, the everyday Santa kicked back in a green plaid lumberjack shirt, red suspenders, and red pants. To top it all off, he was wearing green-and-red striped socks and red Crocs. His red velvet coat hung nearby.

Customer Maria Borruso was shocked when she brought in her 15-month old son Nicholas in for photos and a visit. "I was completely disgusted. I didn't think it was appropriate," she said in a telephone interview.

**Editor's note: Naturally, I am assuming she is talking about the Crocs, first and foremost. Crocs are both disgusting and inappropriate, of course, not to mention impractical for the North Pole from a purely climatological standpoint. Add in the fact that there is no way in hell that Santa Claus would ever wear Crocs--a man who is such a traditionalist in every fashion sense of the word--and Ms. Borruso has every right to be shocked and disgusted. Moving on.

Ms. Borruso continued by saying that she opted not to have Nicholas's picture taken with Santa that day in his present incarnation. "My son could have been sitting in any old bald man's lap."

Albertson said that feedback regarding the At-home Santa idea was largely positive, but acknowledged receiving two complaints. "Some people like it, but some people don't," he said. Store managment, however, must have received substantially more, for they decided to put a more traditional Santa back in place seven days a week. As far as the other idea, Ms. Borruso remained firm. "It didn't fly with me," she said. When reached later and told of the switch, Borruso was thrilled.

And Albertson? "Some battles are just not worth fighting," he said.

Oh, I don't know, David. New traditions have to start someplace.

21 comments:

  1. I'm inclined to agree- Santa should be...Santa. Not just some guy.

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  2. I'm all for a new tradition if I can get my picture taken with the naked santa.

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  3. Do I even need to make a joke about sitting on that dude's lap?

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  4. It's a cute idea, but there has to be some other way to do it (perhaps a display with pictures of Santa at home?). Perhaps, lumberjack Santa would be okay in say, July. Santa's technically off-duty then! Of course, it goes without saying that the Crocs would never be okay.

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  5. Ummm...we're you saying something...was it something about rolling in hay with hot naked Santas? He's wearing Crocs? I'll help take them off...

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  6. j.--you know, i almost cropped part of that last picture, but i decided "oh, what the hell." there's nothing like a bit of christmas cheer, is there?

    jenomena--i think santa is one of those traditions involving kids that you just don't mess with. parents cannot roll with it.

    i.h.--not for me you don't!

    nina--send me a lil' photo and i'll see what i can photoshop. LOL.

    p.o.t.u.--you disappoint me. how did you NOT comment on the last pic?!

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  7. Anonymous10:31 PM

    Hmmm...well...the only person sitting on THIS Santa's lap is...um...ME. You know where to find me, no?

    Signed,
    Liebowitz

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  8. Well... er... He looks like just the ticket for the Macy's Day parade. With boots instead of crocs, of course. The rest of the costume is just fine.

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  9. Nance, this is the best Christmas present ever.

    Glad you didn't crop this photo because I may just like his thighs better than his chest.

    Still not decided.

    Will have to sit and stare at the photo some more before I COME to a FIRM conclusion.

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  10. That picture makes me feel things that I truly cannot put to words at this moment...I can only hope there's not a needle in the haystack (behave Tera).

    And Bah! Humbug! I have not begun shopping and the mere thought of buying a new car this close to Christmas is making me break out in hives!

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  11. As much as I love a hot, naked Santa, I am thankful for the wee bits of hay artfully strewn across the groinal area.

    Because seeing Santa's package would just be so very wrong.

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  12. gina--my site is nothing if not artful.

    tera--i take it the Christmas Spirit is upon you...? lol.

    v-grrrl--i had a haunch you would appreciate it.

    ortizzle--this is a rather more private santa. i don't see him doing parades.

    liebowitz--santa's lap is in high demand here at the Dept. the line forms behind Induced Homomorphism. Sigh. it won't take long for him to respond to that.

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  13. Buhhhhh... ummmm...

    *whispers*

    "Hot Naked Santa, I may have been naughty this year... but I could be extra nice to make up for it..."

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  14. Ahem... on a more "proper" note...

    Our favorite mall Santa doesn't wear the traditional garb, but he is still very much Santa.

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  15. Ooooh Santa baby!! I hope I'm on your list. Better check it twice!

    I'm home now, but when I first opened this post I was at work and shut it down very quickly!!! ; )

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  16. OHHHHHHH!!!!!! If only I had a rake..........

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  17. Nance, thank you for coming by my blog today, and for leaving a comment. I fear I was too flippant and unclear in my post about gift giving, and I did not in any way intend to disparage teachers. I wrote a reply to your comment on my comment thread, as it would be more appropriate there than here on your post, but I wanted to come over and tell you I'm sorry for causing offense.

    ~J

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  18. j.@jellyjules--oh, thanks, j. for clearing it all up over at your site. i've been by there, as you know, and i'm glad it wasn't something borne of frustration from a run-in with a teacher. let's call it a communication gap and begin anew. :-)

    nancy--LOL!! good heavens, now that's the best and most direct christmas wish so far!

    anali--hee hee! oops. forgot about my at-work readers.

    ck--there's a fine line between naughty and nice. if you look real close, you can almost see it...!

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  19. See it? Darlin, I dance back and forth across it all the time! :)

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  20. ck--LOL. oh, that one! i was talking about the one in the photo. hee hee.

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  21. Something totally unrelated. I sent a picture to someone at the Dept. and he didn't respond (i'm not too shocked-he's a guy) so I assume he didn't tell you at all. I got engaged on Friday night!!
    :-)
    Ok, sorry. Just wanted to brag.

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Oh, thank you for joining the fray!

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