2022年12月07日 VOA慢速英語：新冠疫情過后圣誕老人的傳統(tǒng)回歸

 

Santa Claus is a character who brings gifts to children during the holiday of Christmas.
圣誕老人是在圣誕節(jié)期間給孩子們帶來禮物的角色。
 
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.
在節(jié)日期間，許多表演者扮演圣誕老人。他們出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)各地的商店、旅館和其他地方，與孩子們見面，詢問他們想要什么圣誕禮物。今年，圣誕老人表演者在經(jīng)歷了兩年的 COVID-19 限制后又回來了。但是有一些變化。
 
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·艾倫 (Mitch Allen) 創(chuàng)辦了一項(xiàng)名為 HireSanta.com 的服務(wù)，為圣誕老人表演者提供服務(wù)。他報(bào)告稱，與去年相比，今年圣誕節(jié)的需求增長(zhǎng)了 30%。該公司在大流行期間失去了大約 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.
艾倫擁有一個(gè)包含數(shù)千名表演者的圣誕老人數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)。它包括在紐約 Bloomindale 總店舉辦的活動(dòng)以及在萬豪酒店舉辦的許多活動(dòng)。大多數(shù)與艾倫一起的圣誕老人表演者已經(jīng)恢復(fù)了讓孩子坐在他們腿上的傳統(tǒng)。他說，他們沒有以任何主要方式考慮 COVID-19 感染。但圣誕老人可以選擇戴面罩。
 
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 是另一家提供圣誕老人表演的機(jī)構(gòu) Cherry Hill Programs 的發(fā)言人。她說公司的 1,400 名圣誕老人今年在 600 多個(gè)購(gòu)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.
“我什至無法解釋我們是多么興奮地看到這個(gè)季節(jié)在所有地點(diǎn)看到每個(gè)人的笑容，沒有任何東西掩蓋這些美麗的面孔，”她說。
 
Cherry Hill Santas are also free to wear face coverings, Landtroop said.
Landtroop 說，櫻桃山圣誕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.
一些圣誕老人仍然保持距離。紐約市梅西百貨總店的圣誕老人將坐在工作站后面。所以，那里不會(huì)有單圈訪問。
 
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.
一些過去兩年出于對(duì)健康的擔(dān)憂而待在家里的圣誕老人已經(jīng)回來了。但艾倫說他正在尋找新的表演者。
 
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.
通貨膨脹也讓人們很難繼續(xù)表演。許多人年齡較大，收入固定，需要長(zhǎng)途跋涉才能完成工作。他們?cè)谑フQ老人的衣服和其他物品上花費(fèi)了數(shù)百美元。
 
"We're charging the clients slightly more and we're also paying our Santas slightly more," Allen said.
“我們向客戶收取的費(fèi)用稍微多了一些，我們付給圣誕老人的錢也稍微多了一些，”艾倫說。
 
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.
許多圣誕老人的預(yù)訂都是提??前幾個(gè)月完成的，有些圣誕老人全年都在預(yù)訂。艾倫的圣誕老人這個(gè)季節(jié)的收入在 5,000 到 12,000 美元之間。
 
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.
一些圣誕老人告訴美聯(lián)社，成本不是問題。他們從事圣誕老人職業(yè)不是為了賺錢，而是因?yàn)樗麄兿矚g它。
 
Allen and other agencies are seeing more requests for Black, deaf, and Spanish-speaking Santa performers. Allen also knows a female Santa.
艾倫和其他機(jī)構(gòu)看到越來越多的人要求黑人、聾人和說西班牙語的圣誕老人表演者。艾倫還認(rèn)識(shí)一位女圣誕老人。
 
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 年首次擔(dān)任志愿者后，今年成為了專業(yè)的圣誕老人。他們都是退役軍人。
 
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.
他們花了數(shù)周時(shí)間接受圣誕老人培訓(xùn)。他們學(xué)習(xí)了美國(guó)手語和其他與殘疾人一起工作和表演的方式。他們的工作包括與總部位于德克薩斯州的非營(yíng)利組織 Lone Star Santas 一起前往災(zāi)區(qū)，在節(jié)日期間傳播快樂。
 
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 說，這是他們第一次以圣誕老人的身份進(jìn)入專業(yè)領(lǐng)域，成為黑人已經(jīng)不容易。對(duì)于某些人，Eric 說：“我們知道我們不是適合您的圣誕老人。”