Santa Claus is a character who brings gifts to children during the holiday of Christmas.
圣诞老人是在圣诞节期间给孩子们带来礼物的角色。
 
During the holiday season, many performers play Santa. They appear across the United States in stores, hotels, and other places to meet with children and ask them what Christmas gifts they want. This year, Santa performers are back after two years of COVID-19 restrictions. But there are a few changes.
在节日期间，许多表演者扮演圣诞老人。他们出现在美国各地的商店、旅馆和其他地方，与孩子们见面，询问他们想要什么圣诞礼物。今年，圣诞老人表演者在经历了两年的 COVID-19 限制后又回来了。但是有一些变化。
 
Mitch Allen started a service that provides Santa performers called HireSanta.com. He has reported a 30 percent increase in demand this Christmas season over the last year. The company lost about 15 percent of its performers to retirement or death during the pandemic.
米奇·艾伦 (Mitch Allen) 创办了一项名为 HireSanta.com 的服务，为圣诞老人表演者提供服务。他报告称，与去年相比，今年圣诞节的需求增长了 30%。该公司在大流行期间失去了大约 15% 的表演者退休或死亡。
 
Allen has a Santa database of several thousand performers. It includes events at Bloomindale's main store in New York and many events at Marriott hotels. Most of the Santa performers with Allen have moved back to the tradition of having kids sit on their laps. They are not considering COVID-19 infection in any major way, he said. But Santas can choose to wear a face covering.
艾伦拥有一个包含数千名表演者的圣诞老人数据库。它包括在纽约 Bloomindale 总店举办的活动以及在万豪酒店举办的许多活动。大多数与艾伦一起的圣诞老人表演者已经恢复了让孩子坐在他们腿上的传统。他说，他们没有以任何主要方式考虑 COVID-19 感染。但圣诞老人可以选择戴面罩。
 
Chris Landtroop is a spokesperson with another agency that provides Santa performers, Cherry Hill Programs. She said the business's 1,400 Santas are working at more than 600 shopping centers this year.
Chris Landtroop 是另一家提供圣诞老人表演的机构 Cherry Hill Programs 的发言人。她说公司的 1,400 名圣诞老人今年在 600 多个购物中心工作。
 
"I can't even explain how excited we are to see everyone's smiles at all locations this season without anything covering up those beautiful faces," she said.
“我什至无法解释我们是多么兴奋地看到这个季节在所有地点看到每个人的笑容，没有任何东西掩盖这些美丽的面孔，”她说。
 
Cherry Hill Santas are also free to wear face coverings, Landtroop said.
Landtroop 说，樱桃山圣诞老人也可以自由佩戴面罩。
 
Some Santas are still keeping their distance. The Santa at Macy's main store in New York City will be seated behind a work station. So, there will be no lap visits there.
一些圣诞老人仍然保持距离。纽约市梅西百货总店的圣诞老人将坐在工作站后面。所以，那里不会有单圈访问。
 
Some Santas who stayed home for the last two years out of concern for their health have returned. But Allen said he is looking for new performers.
一些过去两年出于对健康的担忧而待在家里的圣诞老人已经回来了。但艾伦说他正在寻找新的表演者。
 
Inflation has also made it difficult for people to continue performing. Many are older, on fixed incomes, and travel long distances to perform. They spend hundreds of dollars on Santa clothing and other objects.
通货膨胀也让人们很难继续表演。许多人年龄较大，收入固定，需要长途跋涉才能完成工作。他们在圣诞老人的衣服和其他物品上花费了数百美元。
 
"We're charging the clients slightly more and we're also paying our Santas slightly more," Allen said.
“我们向客户收取的费用稍微多了一些，我们付给圣诞老人的钱也稍微多了一些，”艾伦说。
 
Bookings for many Santas were made months ahead, and some work throughout the year. Allen's Santas will make from $5,000 to $12,000 for the season.
许多圣诞老人的预订都是提​​前几个月完成的，有些圣诞老人全年都在预订。艾伦的圣诞老人这个季节的收入在 5,000 到 12,000 美元之间。
 
A few Santas told The Associated Press that the cost is not a problem. They are not in the Santa profession to make money but do it because they enjoy it.
一些圣诞老人告诉美联社，成本不是问题。他们从事圣诞老人职业不是为了赚钱，而是因为他们喜欢它。
 
Allen and other agencies are seeing more requests for Black, deaf, and Spanish-speaking Santa performers. Allen also knows a female Santa.
艾伦和其他机构看到越来越多的人要求黑人、聋人和说西班牙语的圣诞老人表演者。艾伦还认识一位女圣诞老人。
 
Eric Elliott and his wife Moeisha Elliott became professional Santas this year after first taking on the part as volunteers in 2007. Both are retired military members.
Eric Elliott 和他的妻子 Moeisha Elliott 在 2007 年首次担任志愿者后，今年成为了专业的圣诞老人。他们都是退役军人。
 
They spent weeks in Santa Claus training. They learned American Sign Language and other ways to work with and perform to people with disabilities. Their work has included going to disaster areas with the Texas-based nonprofit Lone Star Santas to spread happiness during the holidays.
他们花了数周时间接受圣诞老人培训。他们学习了美国手语和其他与残疾人一起工作和表演的方式。他们的工作包括与总部位于德克萨斯州的非营利组织 Lone Star Santas 一起前往灾区，在节日期间传播快乐。
 
The Elliotts said breaking into the professional world as Santas for the first time and being Black has not been easy. For some people, Eric said, "We understand that we're not the Santa for you."
Elliotts 说，这是他们第一次以圣诞老人的身份进入专业领域，成为黑人已经不容易。对于某些人，Eric 说：“我们知道我们不是适合您的圣诞老人。”