OH in the newsroom: "Santa is here!" by Leah St. James

Before I worked for a newspaper, I used to think the clichéd image of a hardened, cynical journalist was just that – a cliché, convenient for story-telling. Since then I’ve come to learn the truth:

Experienced journalists can be hardened. They can be cynical. It can take a lot to get their attention. But in my perception, they've been forced to that condition by a non-stop flow of individuals who claim to have the story of the century to tell, and if the newspaper doesn’t want to write about them, they threaten to take that story to the local TV station. (I suspect many have already gone the TV route before coming to the paper, but that’s beside the point.)

The point is: Many people want a public platform for either a personal grievance or a public outrage, and newsworthiness is often in the eyes of the beholder...or editor. :-) After a while, it seems like you've heard it all.

So when a bunch of journalists hop up from their desks to check something out, something special is going on. That’s what happened just the other day. I was stuck on the phone (the “why” escapes me right now), when I heard a distinct sound coming from the elevator area: jingle bells. Others heard it too, and heads started popping up around the newsroom.

Then a cry of, “Santa is here!” and a whole bunch of "hardened, cynical" reporters hopped from their desks to check it out.

They didn’t have to go far. Within seconds, Santa himself rounded the corner – big-bellied, red-and-white-costumed, and grinning behind the long, Santa-white beard. Mrs. Claus, also appropriately dressed, trailed behind – one would presume to make sure he wouldn’t stumble or do himself any injury before the big day.

Eyes lit with excitement. Laughter erupted. And a crowd gathered around the happy couple.

Seems we were writing a story about Santa and he’d come all the way to our humble newsroom for a photo shoot. I’d say that was pretty darn accommodating of Santa so close to the biggest day of the year.

He’d left Rudolph and the other reindeer at home for the trek, choosing to travel in his minivan, its sides custom painted with said reindeer pulling a sleigh…of course! Staff members begged, and were granted, personal photos, which were immediately posted on Facebook. After a few minutes, the reporter who had actually snagged the interview yanked Mr. and Mrs. Claus away, and eventually the room settled down.

Reporters went back to their desks, smiling, in better moods for at least a little while. And when the editor, who'd been at an off-site meeting, returned and heard about the visit, I heard, "I can't believe I missed Santa Claus!!" :-)

Santa visits the Daily Press newsroom, Newport News, VA.
Photo courtesy of the Daily Press.

Click here to read the real story. You can also find a brief video of Santa talking about the joy he gets from visiting with special-needs children.

On behalf of all the “strumpets,” wishing you the merriest of Christmases, and a 2014 filled with joy, peace , health and prosperity.
____________________

By day, Leah works as a mild-mannered book blogger (among other things) at her local newspaper, but in the early morning hours, she lets her imagination run wild, crafting stories of romance, suspense, murder, mayhem and love. Always love.

Leah blogs about life in the newsroom the 4th Monday of each month. Learn more about Leah at LeahStJames.com.

Christmas Elves - This One Might "Kramp" Your Holiday

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone has the holiday celebration they hoped for and that everyone stays safe and healthy.

In keeping with the holiday season, I decided to delve into the world of the Christmas Elf.

I was positively delighted to discover that several internet sources attribute the concept of the Christmas elf to Louisa May Alcott (the muse of my youth) in an unpublished 1850 Christmas book entitled Christmas Elves. Though Santa was called a jolly old elf in that famous Christmas poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823. It makes sense that if Santa is an elf, then he would enlist help from his kinfolk to accomplish his monumental holiday tasks. But as with everything in life, for every bright side, there is a dark one and this also holds true for elves at Christmas.

Did you know that the Eastern Europeans' St. Nicholas was accompanied by a far less adorable elf? A dark companion whose names varied from culture to culture. Austrians called him Krampus, Germans called him Knecht Ruprecht, in the Netherlands, he was called Zwarte Piet (Black Pete)--the list goes on. I'll use Krampus since I just recently spied a very intriguing book by Brom--Krampus, the Yule Lord.

Not a face for those sugar-plum dreams, eh?

Krampus was St. Nicholas's opposite number on the holiday rounds and if a child was bad, he would punish the child with his switches. In the case of a truly bad child, Krampus would kidnap them and take them back to his lair. Forget leaving you little lumps of coals. Oh no, Krampus will take your misbehaving self somewhere to learn the error of your ways.

Krampus is typically represented as a dark hairy creature with horns and cloven feet like a goat. He has a long tongue which he likes to stick out and carries chains he likes to shake at children or a basket of switches for obvious reasons.

It cannot escape the discerning reader that perhaps our ancestors thought that if St. Nicholas couldn't entice a child to goodness, then Krampus could scare them into obedience. The juxtaposition between the "godly" St. Nicholas and the "devil" Krampus is not coincidental nor is the devilish appearance of St. Nicholas's dark companion.

It's interesting that when St. Nicholas crossed the ocean to become Santa here in the west, Krampus did not make the trip. Though, it seems he has been lurking in the background.

So, you'd better watch out and you'd better be nice, because if you're naughty, getting lumps of coal might be the least of your worries. Krampus might be the one to visit, turning your "ho ho ho" into "oh no no."

Merging Holiday Traditions

I loved Christmas when I was a kid. I wish I could say it had something to do with the religious aspects, but it was the presents, the toys. It was the best time of the year because I got more toys than I could conceivably play with... although I did give it my best effort.

In our family, we opened gifts on Christmas morning. During the night, while we slept, Santa brought our gifts and left them out for us. There were four of us kids, and we all had our special spot. Mine was the single chair in the living room. When I came down Christmas morning, my chair would be covered with toys and clothes. Not wrapped, just neatly laid out.  The year I got a new bike it was parked next to my chair. The same with the chalkboard I received the following year. It was like a party. And later, after my parents woke and got their coffee, we attacked the wrapped gifts under the tree; the ones we'd gotten each other. It was a wonderful experience and although I couldn't put it in words then, when I got older I knew I wanted that same experience for my children.

My first week of law school I met the man who would become my husband. Now, this blog post is not the place for THAT story, but we were inseparable from that moment on. Christmases during the years we dated and the ones after we married, before children, we spent rotating between our two families. He was surprised the first holiday he spent with my family to learn we opened gifts on Christmas morning.

His family opened gifts on Christmas Eve!

As I expressed my incredulity, he went on to share his childhood experience of opening gifts at night on Christmas Eve. And all of his gifts from Santa were wrapped and nestled under the tree. I smiled indulgently, but I knew in my heart that if he was lucky enough to spend his life with me, our children would follow my family's traditions, not his weird ones.

Ten years later, we had a choice to make. We had three children and one was old enough to understand Christmas and look forward to it. We'd continued visiting our families during the holidays, but we both knew it was time to start our own family tradition, and that meant staying at home.

And settling the long debate of Christmas Eve versus Christmas.

We both had valid reasons for our preference and they were backed by years of emotions and memories. It wasn't easy, but we had to do what was best for the family we created, not the ones we grew up with. And in the end, we came up with a compromise that has since become our family tradition. We open gifts on Christmas morning, but they are all wrapped and nestled under the tree, even the ones from Santa.

From the W3 family to yours... Happy Holidays!!

What are some of your favorite Holiday traditions?

Tracey Livesay
True Love in black & white
www.traceylivesay.com
Mimosas at Midnight
Twitter: @tlivesay
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