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Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Awesome gig. I'm curious as to what kind of things you ad-libbed, especially in the face of "my dog died" situations. Did they give you some sort of Santa cram session or did you come up with lines yourself?
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I got no training at all, other than a couple of minutes of tips from one of the other Santas as he changed costume before leaving his shift. (He pretty much told me to be nice, don't promise live animals or dangerous toys, and so on.) I was very much on my own, but, no problem.
I told the girl that her dog had loved her very much, was in a happy place now, and would be very happy if one day she had a new friend to take care of. (The Mom, standing nearby, gave a nod of approval to this answer, so I feel pretty confident that a puppy was in the offing.)
Some other stock answers: For very expensive things (iPods, X Boxes and so on) "I'll have to see if my elves have figured out how to make those yet." or "That's a very popular request this year. I hope I'll have enough to go around!" I tried to avoid promising the big ticket items directly, but these answers seemed to meet with an okay from all the kids I talked to.
Ponies and other exotic animals: "My elves are very good at making toy ponies, but real ones? They haven't quite figured that out yet." "Most of the ponies I know are very happy running out in the wild. They do like it when friends come to visit them, though." (That line worked well once or twice, but definitely not every time. One kid came back with,"I don't care, I want a pony at my house!" - Tomorrow morning is going to be a treat for her parents, I'm sure.)
For most cases, it was enough to nod and say,"Well, that sounds like an excellent idea!" or "Wouldn't that be fun! I'll let my elves know right away."
Yes, two boys asked for BB guns, and I gently indicated that I would prefer to get them something safer. (I fought back the urge to give them the classic "You'll put an eye out" line.) In both cases, the parents had warned me ahead of time that this is what they would ask for, and requested that I break the bad news gently. Both of them seemed content enough with this.