Bad Santa in real life (Santa in Shopping Centres in General)

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	Santa in Shopping Centres in General
Date:	15/01/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for impressionable kids

Disadvantages: The cost of all the extra's

Ever since I watched the film Bad Santa i've never been able to look at a Shopping Centre, Father Christmas in the same way, it perfectly encapsulated the fears every parent must have about the often grubby looking men behind the red trousers and big beards.

Nowadays letting a young child sit on an old man with a red noses lap to discuss presents he might bring them is likely to result in an unsavoury incident involving Police and the courts rather than delighted kids and parents.

I remember when I was small, queuing up at the local Co-Op and my mum would pay 50p for me to see Father Christmas, it was an annual thing (Duh, really!!) and something I looked forward to no end, the presents were nothing special but meeting this wonderful man was an honor, in those days they got real old people to do the job and they did it pretty darned well, many bringing their own beards.

Nowadays, the grotto areas are more elaborate but the queues seem ridiculous and the price to see Santa is then made worse by the requisite £10 photograph, I remember when that elusive old soul travelled the world all in one night with nobody seeing now he charges a tenner to have a photo with your kids.

When I was in New York last Christmas I saw one Santa Claus having a fag behind his grotto while kids waited expectantly with their bored parents, it was a golden photo opportunity but one I didn't want to explain to my younger cousins who were so looking forward to Christmas.

The Santa's are getting younger, grubbier and more bad tempered, more and more like Bad Santa, so maybe its time to boycott the shops and get the grumpy old men in your own homes to play Santa instead and make it a much more personal introduction for the kids.

Summary: Bad santa in real life