美国圣诞老人高兴不起来

罗德．里默施马在芝加哥市郊的一座购物商城当圣诞老人已经有很长时间了，他过去常常开玩笑地告诉孩子们，如果他们调皮，得到的圣诞礼物就会是袜子。
As a longtime Santa Claus at a suburban Chicago mall, Rod Riemersma used to jokingly tell children they would get socks for Christmas if they were naughty.
　　
今年，他不再开这种玩笑了。有太多孩子想要袜子。“他们可能听到父母说，‘唉，我希望我能有钱给他们买些衣服’”，56岁的里默施马说。
This year, he stopped telling the joke. Too many children were asking for socks. 'They've probably heard their parents say, 'Geez, I wish I had some money to get them clothes,'' says Mr. Riemersma, 56 years old.
　　
今年的圣诞季，从美国各地白胡子、红衣服的圣诞老人收到的圣诞心愿中，反映出经济困难时期的萧瑟之象。几年前，孩子们梦比天高，他们向圣诞老人要Xbox、iPod和笔记本电脑。但是，几十位在购物商城或派对表演中工作的圣诞老人说，随着经济持续低迷，许多孩子开始索要基本生活用品，比如鞋子、借书证甚至是眼镜。
A wintry measure of hard times can be found this holiday season on the knee of white-bearded, red-suited men around the country. A couple of years ago, children were shooting for the moon, asking St. Nick for Xboxes, iPods and laptops. But with the economy still fragile, many children are requesting basics such as shoes, library cards and even eyeglasses, say dozens of Santas who work at malls or on the party circuit.
　　
在洛杉矶经营一家圣诞老人培训学校的蒂姆．康诺翰说，孩子们会听到E打头的单词，但不是埃尔莫（Elmo，儿童电视节目“芝麻街”中的玩偶名字），而是经济。
'Kids will hear the E-word, but it's not Elmo,' says Tim Connaghan, who runs a Los Angeles Santa-training school. 'It's the economy.'
　　
从潮水般涌向阿拉斯加州北极镇的信件中，就能清楚地看出金钱危机给孩子们带来的压力有多大。那里是圣诞主题商店圣诞老人之家的所在地，父母们可以在这家店定制由圣诞老人寄出、盖有北极镇邮戳的信件。每年寄给圣诞老人的信都有数万封之多。业务经理保罗．布朗说，信件内容不仅提前数月预示圣诞节最火爆的玩具，而且还反映出国民的情绪。
The extent to which money woes are weighing on children is clear from the letters flooding into North Pole, Alaska. That's the home of the Santa Claus House, a Christmas-themed shop where parents can order letters from Santa with a North Pole postmark. It gets tens of thousands of letters to Santa every year. Operations manager Paul Brown says the messages not only predict the holiday's hottest toys months in advance but also gauge the mood of the nation.
　　
布朗说起这些信件的内容时说，当我们遇到房贷危机时，我们看到的是“请帮我们留在自己的房子里”；今年信件更多地是与工作有关。这些信件被转交给一家与孩子们家乡的慈善机构合作的非赢利组织。
'When we had the housing crunch, we saw, 'Please help us stay in our house,'' Mr. Brown says of the letters, which are forwarded to a noNPRofit that works with charities in the children's hometowns. 'This year, it's more job-related.'
　　
美国的圣诞老人们正在尽其所能帮助孩子们应对难关。由于预期将出现大量与经济衰退相关的问题，今年11月，康诺翰向其电子邮件通讯组中的1,800位圣诞老人发出了建议信。
The Kris Kringles of America are doing their best to help children cope. Anticipating a deluge of recession-related questions, Mr. Connaghan in November sent advice to his email network of 1,800 Santas.
　　
这些建议包括告诉忧心忡忡的孩子们“事情会好起来的”，并问他们能否让圣诞老人“带去一个惊喜”，而不是承诺送出具体的礼物。他建议说，圣诞老人的工作“是让孩子感觉更好”。他建议圣诞老人让孩子们到当地慈善机构去找圣诞礼物。
The tips included telling worried children that 'things will get better' and asking if Santa could 'bring a surprise,' instead of promising specific gifts. The job of a Santa 'is to make the child feel better,' he counseled. He suggested that Santas refer children to local charities to find Christmas gifts.
　　
这正是吉姆．刘易斯所做的。他是丹佛市的Bass Pro Shop室外用品店的圣诞老人，最近，一位穿着红色格子呢外衣的金发小姑娘向他要一幅眼镜，好让她能看清教室里的黑板，这个要求着实让他吃了一惊。他及时回过神，招呼他的一个小精灵过来，小精灵告诉那个小姑娘的妈妈，当地的慈善机构狮子会可以帮助向贫困儿童提供处方眼镜。
That's what Jim Lewis did. A Santa at a Bass Pro Shop outdoor-goods store in Denver, he blanched when a blond girl in a red plaid dress recently asked for a pair of eyeglasses so she could see the classroom board. He recovered in time to motion over one of his elves, who told the girl's mother about the local Lions Club, which helps provide needy children with prescription glasses.

如果我们能实现更多像这样的愿望该多好，但遗憾的是，这只是个特例，” 60岁的刘易斯说，他不当圣诞老人时是一位房地产评估师。
'It would be wonderful if we could grant more wishes like that, but unfortunately, this is the exception to the rule,' says the 60-year-old Mr. Lewis, a real-estate appraiser when he takes off the Santa suit.

有时，即使是最好的培训也无法让圣诞老人随时应对自如。在俄亥俄州哥伦比亚市的北极星时尚广场扮演圣诞老人的迈克．史密斯说，上个月，一个穿着“爱探险的朵拉”运动衫的5岁小女孩跳坐到他腿上问道：“你能把我爸爸变成小精灵吗？”“为什么？”他问。
Sometimes even the best training can't keep Santa from being caught off guard. Mike Smith, who works as Santa at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio, says a 5-year-old girl wearing a Dora the Explorer sweat shirt last month hopped in his lap and asked, 'Can you turn my daddy into an elf?' 'Why?' he asked.
　　
小女孩说：“因为我爸爸丢了工作，我们的房子就快没了。”
'Because my daddy's out of work, and we're about to lose our house,' she said.
　　
小女孩的妈妈正推着她小弟弟的婴儿车站在一旁，忍不住泪流满面。不知所措的史密斯问那个小女孩，她父亲的木工手艺好不好，小女孩说好。他遗憾地说，我不知道在那之后该说什么，于是我们就照了张相。
The girl's mother, standing by her little brother's stroller, burst into tears. A stunned Mr. Smith asked the girl if her father was good with a hammer, and the girl said yes. 'I didn't know what to say after that, so we just took the picture,' he says with regret.