Coffee and Donuts

The first thing Shortcake does when she arrives at Macy’s in the morning is make coffee.  Santa has his very own coffee maker: 

 

Santa sometimes brings in donuts, and writes inspiration messages on the inside:

 The snowman donut is always the last eaten of the day.  Shortcake always claims the donut with red and green sprinkles.

After coffee Shortcake fills the water cooler with ice and water and carries it down a long hallway, wishing humans had invented something round, that maybe rolled, something like… oh, a wheel.

It was another quiet, slow day.  Around 2pm, it started to pick up.  Shortcake helped out with some reshoots (kids didn’t want to smile with Santa).  One six month girl had the biggest smile Shortcake had seen all season.

 

Wherein Shortcake was Sassed

Wednesday was a hectic day.  Shortcake was already tired since she hadn't made up the sleep debt from coming in at 7am on Tuesday for Happy Child.  Schedules got all moved around, and it was super slow.  Santa did not see many people.  Shortcake was scolded by her manager, which put her off a bit.  Holly, who helps Santa with his beard (not to be confused with Shortcake’s friend, Holly), made peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses.  They were delicious, even though Shortcake was not supposed to eat them until after she ate her salad.  But Shortcake did eat her salad, eventually, because she is trying very hard to get the correct servings of fruits and vegetables daily.  It is actually very hard.  Surprisingly.

Santa is very thirsty.  Shortcake learned she needed to check on his water every half hour or so.

Shortcake worked on the International Strawboss Sign Language cheat sheet, so strawbosses and elves could all be on the same page when communicating silently.  Holly drew pictures after Shortcake worked out the signs.

Santa sassed Shortcake near the end of her shift, so she was a bit short-tempered with him.  She was more than happy to hand the man in red over to Cider.  This is Cider, rocking the Strawboss headset:

Perhaps you have heard of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree?  Mariah Carey sang this year; see if you recognize anyone in the video:

 

 That man in red?  Yeah, he sassed Shortcake mere hours before this aired.

HAPPY CHILD!

The Happy Child event was Tuesday morning.  Underprivileged children (age 3-5) in New York City come to Macy’s.  They get breakfast (sugary cereal), have a dance party with a Dora the Explorer character (Shortcake walked in on “Firework” by Katy Perry blasting from the speakers), and then visit Santa.  During their visit they get to pick out a present amongst the toys in the house.  (Macy’s supplied the toys.  Usually Santa tells the children to wait until Christmas morning before he gives them gifts.)  The children also received a book, a Macy’s bear, a Macy’s hat, and a plush Smurf doll (from 2010).

The children were very happy.  It was a little hectic because schools were late, and the schedule got all kerfluffled, and Santaland opened for the general public about two hours into the event, so normal people were interspersed with over-stimulated happy children.

This is Mary Lane, one of the ladies who helps Santa with his hair and beard: