Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 20Dec2009

This was my final gig (this year) playing for the line of families waiting to plop their kids on Santa's lap. I had complained (via email) about the treatment I'd gotten the week before, and the Activity Committee lady was *very* apologetic and "hoped it doesn't happen in the future". I replied that it would be very simple to predict that piece of the future -- check the schedule, and let me know if That (Mean) Guy was gonna be there this time, so I'd at least know what to expect. She said that she'd check the schedule and get back to me, but never did.

So I went anyway, hoping for the best. That Guy didn't appear to be around, so I put my table closer to the "entrance", but had to move it back a ways anyway because otherwise it would get soaked by the "snow" machines. Because it was still pretty invisible, it only collected ten bucks -- but it wasn't the lack of money as much as the bad treatment that I'd objected to, so that's fine.

Lots more people, on account of this being the Last Chance. And it ran an hour past the official cut-off time, too. The kids and parents were in a pretty festive mood, and the line seemed to be moving faster, so I could cycle around and repeat songs sooner. That helped 'cuz I don't really have too many Christmas songs that kids know/like.

So I did play some "regular" kids' songs. But the unexpected highlight of the evening was after I had played "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", explaining that I play a lot of James Taylor so this one is arranged as if it was being played by him. Some of the parents started asking for James songs, and some of the teenagers (presumably big brothers and sisters) started asking for some Beatles, which their younger siblings were seconding! So I played "Hey Jude", with half the crowd/line singing along on the main part of the song, and seemingly *all* of it singing along on the "Na na" part! That song usually gets a good reception at a gig, but this was the best ever. After it was over I said, "Well, I don't usually think of that song as a Christmas Tune, but I guess it is!"

I kept getting requests for more James Taylor, too, so I slid in "Sweet Baby James" (which James originally meant as a kid's song, for his new baby nephew), and "You've Got a Friend" since it seemed to be in the right spirit of the evening.

And although the Committee lady never got back to me, she apparently got a message to the other Committee members, 'cuz they were *very* nice to me -- asking to help move my stuff in and back to the car, and clapping loudly, and when it was clearly running late, one of the guys came over and asked me if I was OK 'cuz one of the ladies was worried about me. Also the Hot Cocoa lady brought me some, which I had to decline because chocolate clogs up your throat (see, I learned *something* in all those choir classes). She took it away and brought me a cup of water instead, which I had already gotten for myself, so now I had two, and later on she brought another one, so I had three!

After it was all over, as I was packing the last of my stuff in the car, I saw the guy who had apparently been playing Santa, coming out of the building across the parking lot. It was That Guy! That explained both why he hadn't been there to hassle me, and also why the line was moving so quickly. He's not the kind of guy to dote much on the kids -- but he does seem to "own" the Activity Committee, so I guess he decided to take the plum job for himself that night. Figures.