Christmas in Retrospect

by Jamie Bennett

This Christmas the family and I went to visit the in laws down in Southern California. Anne came with us and we all had a marvelous time. We towed the Airstream down the I-5 behind our Chevy conversion van and it was so much fun. We visited the Winchester Mystery Mansion which was incredibly bizarre and simultaneously intriguing. All the old textures and artwork was most impressive. I don't want to give to much away but if you are ever in San Jose it is totally worth stopping in. This vacation was a most welcome adventure after a long year of advertising and I am now totally refreshed.

I played Santa three times this year.  I was Santa at the grand opening of the brand new Guaranty RV travel center, at the Chevy dealership and finally I again delivered warm socks to underprivileged families. I had a blast. When I play Santa I give 110%. I have the voice down and I stay in character regardless of who I am speaking to. I even deny playing Santa when I am out of character. I tell people that I was at home sick all day.

For the most part I dealt entirely with the children. I listened to what they wanted and insisted that everyone be good boys and girls for their parents. I also took several fun photos for future social media posts. All the kids were most polite and even those that looked skeptical weren't brazen enough to risk any future presents by outing me. Some kids were afraid of me (including my own) but that is to be expected.

This year I also delivered hats and socks to less fortunate families. A news crew was there and the story did appear on television (the newscast was not archived online). There is, however, a small blurb about it. 

It is most rewarding to work at a company that cares.