Mall Santas: the real economic indicator
For all the talk we hear about positive economic indicators – a rise in retail spending, the falling unemployment rate – who can really say how things are across Canada?
Yes, those factors will help measure our long-term recovery, but when it comes to gauging the mood of a nation, they don’t quite cut it.
Enter: kids. When pressed, no one’s more honest than children, and their trips to the mall Santa Claus this holiday season are now proving to be more telling than any Consumer Price Index or government data.
For the first year of this recession, the downturn’s influence has reached the laps of mall Kris Kringles, where requests for wallet-busters like iPods and Wiis have given way to tempered gift pleas.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the depressed line of children on Santa’s lap these days are now glumly asking for help with their parents’ bills or assistance in keeping their family home.
One girl in Ohio asked Santa, “Can you turn my daddy into an elf?”
“Why?” St. Nick replied.
“Because my daddy’s out of work, and we’re about to lose our house.”
Indeed, while their parents’ money woes are weighing on kids’ requests on Santa’s knee, the humbling forecasts don’t stop there; letters seen in the North Pole mirror the same dismal outlook.
Stationery sent to Santa often arrives in North Pole, Alaska, where parents can order return letters with a North Pole postmark.
“When we had the housing crunch, we saw (letters from kids saying) ‘Please help us stay in our house,’” a North Pole source tells the WSJ. “This year, it’s more job-related.”
Perhaps no interaction best sums up this trend than one at a New Orleans casino between a for-hire Santa and seven-year-old boy.
When the kid asked for shoes, the Santa replied, “Do you want Air Jordans?”
“No, school shoes,” he said. “My shoes have holes in them.”
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Richard Fantin | Dec 16, 2021 1:36:35 PM
Yay capitalism!!!!
Posted by: justyjane | Dec 17, 2021 1:03:35 PM
I'd like to comment on the previous article about Canadians living paycheck to paycheck. It states that if you can't get a line of credit from your bank if you're unemployed, to get a consolidation loan to have one payment each month. Please tell me which bank is going to give you a loan if you are unemployed?? I'm anxious to know! I'm on disability and my husband has a job. We've been trying to obtain a consolidation loan, yet no bank will loan to us as we don't have enough combined income!!! If one is unemployed, with no income, how on earth will he obtain a consolidation loan??!! If there is such a bank out there, please tell me!