Training: Days 3 & 4

Yesterday's training consisted of two hours devoted solely to the Village. Shortcake practiced being an Usher elf, a Santa elf, and a Photo elf. She practiced both about twice, which was good, but it's still a scary prospect because there's a lot of remember, and most of the instructions are geared towards a 45 second visit during busy times. It's a lot of pressure.

Shortcake had a lot of fun pretending to be customers. She was a child that pretended to be an elephant for the entire visit. Then she was part of a French family. She asked Santa for allergies and a new sister.

It's all fun and games until Day 4, when Santaland was opened for real (for about 2 hours). Santa doesn't officially arrive at Macy's until the day after Thanksgiving, hereafter known as Black Friday. Customers in the store came through; school groups came through; non-English speaking adults came through. Shortcake deeply regrets forgetting all of the French she learned in high school and never learning another language. Curse you, American school system! Luxembourgian children are fluent in 4 languages by the time they graduate high school!

Shortcake started off the day as a Santa elf. Again, the pressure. Shortcake just isn't very aggressive yet, partly because she doesn't have the routine down. Also, because they prep you for families with kids, and we had a lot of adults. Of course, everyone's welcome at Santa's, but it's weird to be giving adults buttons and telling them "Merry Christmas" (when Christmas doesn't start until the day after Thanksgiving, but Shortcake won't get into that) and you have managers and veteran elves watching you. The criticism was great, simply because it was a lot to remember in a few short days, and the confidence isn't there yet, but it's just a scary endeavor. You don't want to do a bad job, or slow down the line, or let down Santa, but you don't want to ruin the visit either.

Being a Front Line elf was much more fun. Front line is when elves stand at the entrance of Santaland and either corral the line, or try to get people to go see Santa. Because they were overscheduled, to give the new elves as much practice as possible, there were about 15 elves at the front line, which is a little nuts, considering there weren't that many people in the store on a Tuesday morning. So, Shortcake danced to the music, waved to people, said "Merry Christmas," and invited people to see Santa. Some people came, most just walked past. It's an easier job for Shortcake because it's so similar to ushering for theaters. At theaters you tell people where the bathrooms are and say "Enjoy the show." At Santaland, you invite people to see Santa, tell them where the bathrooms are, and say "Merry Christmas." There's more energy involved at Santaland, and more freedom for movement, but essentially, it's all crowd control. Shortcake can do that.

After Santaland closed, the elves were sent to an Awards ceremony where veteran elves and managers and Santas were honored for their Christmas spirit and dedication. Shortcake was given a certificate stating she was qualified to spread holiday cheer. Everyone who was given an award was honored, and a few people cried. It felt a lot like watching an American Girl gathering, except Shortcake hadn't been there long enough to appreciate the sentimentality fully. Also, American Girl may already hold the place in Shortcake's heart that Macy's holds in other elves hearts. Maybe after a season or two, Shortcake will love Macy's as much as AG, but right now, AG holds the place of pride.

It's weird to think Shortcake will make friends of the elves, and drop into the managers offices, as she used to, but then it was awkward the first summer at AG too. And now those people are her best friends.

The best part of the day came at the end. Since Shortcake will be entertaining VIP children at the parade, she was given - wait for it - parade credentials! Yes, indeedy. Shortcake is an official elf now.