Last Sunday

It was the last Sunday before Christmas. There was a line before we opened. Shortcake started on headset, adjusted some stantions, and we were off. Dulce stopped by to say hi. She's been staying at the North Pole for the last two years, so it was great to see her again. The line actually didn't explode until 9am. And it went to women's coats. After about 3 hours of Shortcake trying to shout with a bad voice, managing the incoming people, directing people to the new end of the line in women's coats, answering questions, staying updated on the wait time, and making sure people fill in the corners thus keeping the front line tight, Jangles relieved Shortcake for a 10 minute break.

Then Shortcake went to Crossroads to relieve Teddy Bear on headset. She and Gingerbread rocked Crossroads, but it's all about stopping people from entering the exit, keeping the line moving, letting people exit, answering questions, and letting people rejoin their peoples already in line. Remember 2 years ago when Crossroads was manned by 3 people instead of 2? And someone wanted to bring a dog to see Santa. Which, of course, you can't do.

After lunch, which was a short 45 minutes, Shortcake headed out to HR to relieve Teddy Bear on headset. Why, yes, Shortcake did spend the entire day on headset. She also spent the day going through a bag of cough drops. But she almost had a voice by the end.

Shortcake stayed in HR until 5:40pm, which is 40 minutes after her shift ended. She was relieved by Cider. The funny thing about HR is that it's a constant flow of people in 2 directions, but the people coming at you are in shock at how far back they have to go. The people leaving can be cheered up because they're past the turnaround point. The people coming at you have a tendency to say things like "You're kidding me!" or "You're not serious!" To which Shortcake replied "No, I'm not kidding you" or "Yes, I am serious. Turn left and stay to the right." Because it's not Shortcake's fault you got into line on a Sunday afternoon the weekend before Christmas and it's her job to keep the line moving. Some people appreciated her mild sass. People appreciated more that she did not sing the Turn Around song, and that she had not yet invented the "To the right" song. They were excited to know that they would only see her twice and then never again because going back down the elevator hallway makes everything old new again.

And just at the end of Shortcake's shift, her friends Katie, Aurora and Elizabeth arrived in HR. So Shortcake clocked out and joined them on line (Ah - no! That's a New Yorkism. In line! In line!) and they got a personal elf escort through the line and Santaland. No skipping ahead, Shortcake and her friends waited the full 2 hours and took their photo with Santa.