[ti:Health Crisis Changes How Santas Meet with Children]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]The coronavirus health crisis has changed
[00:04.96]how Santa Claus meets with American children.
[00:09.40]Santa now wears a face covering over his white beard.
[00:14.72]He stays behind a barrier and keeps distance for safety.
[00:20.12]He meets with children outdoors or online.
[00:25.00]And some Santas, actually performers who play Santas,
[00:30.64]just took the season off.
[00:33.16]The physical qualities that make the perfect Santa
[00:37.76]also increase the risks of COVID-19.
[00:42.24]"Most of us tick all the boxes: We are old, we are overweight,
[00:48.40]we have diabetes and if we don't have diabetes,
[00:52.48]we have heart disease," said Stephen Arnold.
[00:56.16]He is the president of IBRBS,
[01:00.32]a group formerly known as the International Brotherhood
[01:05.08]of Real Bearded Santas.
[01:08.40]Mitch Allen is president of HireSanta,
[01:12.12]one of the largest Santa-hiring agencies in the country.
[01:17.72]He said, "Santa safety is our No. 1 concern"
[01:22.64]and safety is included into every business agreement.
[01:27.64]He added that the coronavirus crisis hurt business at first,
[01:33.44]but it came back, especially online.
[01:36.84]The average Santa makes $5,000
[01:40.96]to $10,000 during a normal season, Allen said.
[01:47.40]Jac Grimes plays Santa in Greensboro, North Carolina.
[01:52.68]He gave up home visits which make up about a third of his business.
[01:58.96]He did it not just for his own health,
[02:02.44]but to prevent passing the virus from one family to the next.
[02:07.96]At a farmer's market that he works every year,
[02:11.96]Grimes and his wife dress up as Santa
[02:16.08]and Mrs. Claus and sit in a parking area.
[02:20.16]They talk to people who remain inside their cars.
[02:24.40]The virus has many Santas and parents turning to online visits.
[02:31.36]Those visits often have led many Santas to turn to their children and others
[02:38.32]for help learning new computer skills.
[02:42.00]"It has been a challenge," said Christopher Saunders,
[02:46.00]a Santa performer in Tool, a small town near Dallas, Texas.
[02:52.92]But Saunders and others say online visits are a good,
[02:58.12]if imperfect, replacement for in-person visits.
[03:03.08]Even Santas with the best jobs are hurting.
[03:08.16]Howard Graham has played Santa for eight years
[03:12.12]at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
[03:16.28]The place is known for its famous Christmas show
[03:20.00]with the Rockettes, a dance group.
[03:23.36]This year, he is doing online visits and working five days
[03:29.20]with a historic railroad in Pennsylvania.
[03:32.96]"I love what I do ... bringing them
[03:36.04]a little bit of smiles and hope," said Graham.
[03:40.08]Brad Six first played Santa 35 years ago.
[03:45.04]He recently sat on Santa's chair for three hours at a shop in Miami.
[03:51.84]As families sat in front of a plexiglass barrier for photos,
[03:57.44]Six turned his head so that his face shield did not reflect the camera's light.
[04:04.28]He happily waved children around the barrier
[04:08.36]so they could tell him their wish list
[04:11.28]– from a distance about 1.8 meters away.
[04:15.88]As he wished them a Merry Christmas,
[04:18.80]an elf cleaned the area for the next group.
[04:22.72]Six said the situation is "a little easier physically on Santa's back
[04:29.52]because he doesn't have to pick anybody up, but it's not as enjoyable
[04:35.32]because Santa doesn't get the interaction he normally gets."
[04:40.44]But for families, sitting with Santa, even if behind a shield,
[04:46.28]is a bit of normalcy in unusual times.
[04:50.84]Paul and Sarah Morris and their children,
[04:54.88]5-year-old Theo and 4-year-old Sophy,
[04:58.60]were among the first to visit Six that night.
[05:02.68]"This is definitely different," Sarah Morris said of the situation,
[05:08.68]"but the kids are excited and that's what matters."
[05:13.08]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA京香2018下载
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