Apart from the fact that working as a substitute teacher pays
pretty well for the number of hours I put in, there are 3 additional reasons
that I continue to work in my so-called retirement years:
1) every week, I learn at least one new thing
2) every week, I manage to teach a bunch of students a few new
things
3) every week, I meet some very interesting people, both young and
old
When I checked into the office of a local high school on one of
the first days of the current school year, I found myself standing directly
behind a man who was wearing a bright red shirt, and was sporting a a
delightful bushy white beard. Since he apparently would not need a pillow to
fill out a Santa costume, my first thought on seeing him was “that’s Santa
Claus!” As it turns out, I was exactly right.
His name is Mark. Like most baby boomers, he has held a variety of
jobs in his lifetime, including bartender, music venue manager, legal
researcher, stage actor, and on-air personality. As a result of his work in the
music industry, he had a chance to work closely with a number of famous
performers. And, yes, he got a chance to know Jerry Garcia personally.
In 2012, he started working as a department store Santa during the
holiday season. He typically works a 5 week shift, and gets paid VERY WELL for
his time, and his compensation usually includes the use of a car and lodging. Since he is just as generous as Santa, he uses the majority of his "mall money" to support his charity work, which is visiting home and hospital bound children and adults in the Tucson area, which he does on a year-round basis.
As you’re probably aware, Santa is very familiar with technology.
After all, how else could he keep track of who’s been naughty and who’s been
nice? Not surprisingly, a few years before Mark started working as a department
store Santa, he started a Facebook page called Santa for all seasons.
In recent years, he has expanded his interests to include working
as a substitute teacher at local high schools. Like most of us, he usually
winds up monitoring a class that is not related to his major in college (I have
yet to monitor an Economics class). In the Army, people who are trained cooks
wind up being mechanics, and trained mechanics wind up being cooks. Somehow, it
works for the Army, and it also seems to work for local school districts here.
Not everyone gets to work with a celebrity on a daily basis, but
if you’re listening, Virginia, I have a few words of wisdom for you:
There IS a Santa Claus!
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