Santa in the Shopping Centre's

I thought of this the other day when some bloke asked a mate to be Santa in a shop for the kids to visit.

This is something I would love to do, I get lots of kids come in where I work cos I'm only 1/4 mile from the schools, I can usually make them giggle or laugh and stuff.
The thing is I don't think I could do the santa thing.

Why? The Dangers of working with kids now, the dangers for Adults.
I mean yesterday 2 girls were in my shop (12-13y/o) they come in often as do most, one had some money and the other did'nt, the 1 without wanted her friend to buy her a Dime bar 25p, they argued and her friend said no, so I bought it for her.
After they went I was thinking, I done that as simply a nice thing to do, I often do it but by the same token would certain people look at me as being a pervert?
The same with the Santa thing, it only takes a kid to say that the Santa done something bad and whether you innocent or not it tarnishes your reputation, 4ever branded a pervert.
This maybe different where you live but I think this is so sad, I would really like to do the shop Santa thing but I'm not brave enough, I'm scared I could end up in clink or branded something I'm not cos a mouthy kid says I done something I did'nt.

What happend to the world?

Why is it now a perversed thing to say "Come and sit on Santa's knee little boy"?

I did when I was a kid, but would you say that to a kid now?

Jonno :cool:

I know what you mean. It's even getting to the point where it's considered inappropreate to even talk to children these days. Very sad indeed.

It is indeed, however dont worry Jonno we already know your a pervert, and it has nothing to do with the kids :)

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Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234

I know what you mean. It's even getting to the point where it's considered inappropreate to even talk to children these days. Very sad indeed.

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I know, I've only really realised this since working in a shop.
You take things for granted, I had a big choc bar yesterday and offered a bit to a lad called Danny, known him for a few months , he's 10 I show him magic tricks and stuff like that but always feel a bit uncomfortable, that's simply not fair.
I'm certainly not any kind of real pervert, only in the comical sense.

Maybe I'm being a little bit over the top about this but round this area the whole Soham thing is still fresh in people's minds, especially with the new evidence and all.

At heart I'm a kid myself, I stick up for them, it annoys the mums cos they want sweets, the mum says no and I say "Awww don't be so mean" and stuff like that. I dunno , the whole situation is fecked up :(

Jonno :cool:

I read the first few lines passing by the computer.

I immediately thought, "Watch out, they're going to think you're Chester the Molestor, best leave Santa'ing to old men".

Then I read the rest, looks like you were fearing that as well. Pretty sad that we automatically fear kindness towards our children, and assume that it is a cover for perversion.

Sometimes children will talk to me in stores and it makes me uncomfortable. I tell them to run along because I fear that their mothers will turn around and think that I was the one talking to the kid, not the other way around.

Jonno, you are a victim of "profiling".

It's unfortunate that kindness is often attached to an ulterior motive.

It has happened more than once that I've been in a large store, and seen a frantic child who can't find their mother. I've picked the child up and hugged them, and taken them to the cash register to have the mother paged, and tried to calm them down. The mother is always grateful. Your comments make me wonder, would that mother be as grateful if I were a man and had taken the same action? How would I feel if that were me?

I've run into the situation before, with my son Nate, when he was just little. He's always been a very outgoing child, and used to talk to everyone. In a store, he'd strike up conversation with anyone who walked by the cart he was seated in, in a restaurant, he'd become best friends with the waiter/waitress before the end of a meal. Hell, at 2 1/2 he was so proud of being potty trained and wearing real underwear that he had to pull down his pants in WalMart and yell, "Look, I have Buzz (Lightyear) on my butt!!" I don't honestly don't recall having jumped to any conclusions when a man returned his conversation, it happened frequently, then again, I was with him. Of course he's always been given the warnings that under no circumstances was he to talk to strangers when I'm not there with him.

Last year whilst walking through the park a child tripped over in front of me, the mother was some ways down the path.

I just stood there like an idiot because the situation was so awkward. Poor kid crying blue murder and dopey old me stood there not daring to do anything in case the mother screamed blue murder and not wanting to just walk away...

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Originally Posted by NikkiD

It's unfortunate that kindness is often attached to an ulterior motive.

It has happened more than once that I've been in a large store, and seen a frantic child who can't find their mother. I've picked the child up and hugged them, and taken them to the cash register to have the mother paged, and tried to calm them down. The mother is always grateful. Your comments make me wonder, would that mother be as grateful if I were a man and had taken the same action? How would I feel if that were me?

I've run into the situation before, with my son Nate, when he was just little. He's always been a very outgoing child, and used to talk to everyone. In a store, he'd strike up conversation with anyone who walked by the cart he was seated in, in a restaurant, he'd become best friends with the waiter/waitress before the end of a meal. Hell, at 2 1/2 he was so proud of being potty trained and wearing real underwear that he had to pull down his pants in WalMart and yell, "Look, I have Buzz (Lightyear) on my butt!!" I don't honestly don't recall having jumped to any conclusions when a man returned his conversation, it happened frequently, then again, I was with him. Of course he's always been given the warnings that under no circumstances was he to talk to strangers when I'm not there with him.

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Yeah Nikki, if mom is making eye contact with me and is right there, no problem. It is when kids stop and mom walks on and keeps going while the child talks to you. That is what worries me.

As for Santa, Mom will be there, but there is this whole physical contact thing and bum touching accusations that become the issue.

My mother was molested by her priest a 5 year old. She was swimming from her priest, on one side of the pool, to her father on the other. She was little but knew he should not be touching her there. You just never know what is going through the heads of people who actively take a role in being with children. I asked her why she didn't tell her father. She said, "Oh, my dad would have shot him, killed him on the spot" (My grandfather was a policeman) I just endured and never went back".

This is how we should do it. Santa and kids talk by phone, separated by a barrier. Then SAnta could slide a gift through a slot.
http://www.lifespark.org/img/visit.jpg

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Yeah Nikki, if mom is making eye contact with me and is right there, no problem. It is when kids stop and mom walks on and keeps going while the child talks to you. That is what worries me.

As for Santa, Mom will be there, but there is this whole physical contact thing and bum touching accusations that become the issue.

My mother was molested by her priest a 5 year old. She was swimming from her priest, on one side of the pool, to her father on the other. She was little but knew he should not be touching her there. You just never know what is going through the heads of people who actively take a role in being with children. I asked her why she didn't tell her father. She said, "Oh, my dad would have shot him, killed him on the spot" (My grandfather was a policeman) I just endured and never went back".

This is how we should do it. Santa and kids talk by phone, separated by a barrier. Then SAnta could slide a gift

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Haha, perfect.

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I thought of this the other day when some bloke asked a mate to be Santa in a shop for the kids to visit.

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What?

Mall Santa's are the abominations of capitalism. Having been checked out by time and motion studies, knee sitting was dispensed with as inefficient. One pays one's tenner and is whisked through at a rate of knots that would put a white knuckle ride to shame.