Jeff Stahler for November 10, 2021

There are craftspeople all over the country who would LOVE to sell you something unique, local, beautiful, useful and NOT tied up behind the supply chain problems.

In fact, you may be just the craft person you need. Spouse just took delivery of a calendar which will be given to our family members: One of her photographs for each month. Each of them correctly seasonal, beautiful (or cute in at least one case) and local-ish to our home. Less than $15 each, from Snapfish.

Yeah, that’s the trouble. Nobody wants to be an elf.

How is he putting that sign up on the outside of the window when he is inside?

Yeah, I bet he’ll want them to work both Christmas eve and Christmas day.

To my mind, adaptability is probably the strongest survival trait. Throw up an extended crisis, and new initiatives rise from once normal routines, whether in the human world or the animal/insect worlds. Amazing.

Is it a union shop? Do they pay more than minimum wage? What does the benefit package look like? Does Santa offer an IRA? What about stock options?. What are the hours? Will I have to work on holidays?

Ain’t many of us Elves left anymore, traditionally Elves do all the work.

Local restaurant is going to shut down as they can’t get cooks. It is not a fun job to start and they must not be offering much or be hard to work for.

Santa may have to start hiring those Irish leprechauns.

I always understood that the elves were slaves and that Santa kept them docile with drugged up hot cocoa. Having lots of older siblings has some benefits when you a kid – like learning the above little-known facts :)

Wages don’t cover child care.

Elves from Elfghanistan? Too cold for them.

Do like U.S. factories, move operations to China.

Just heard there is a shortage of snow plow drivers and Red Kettle bell ringers. It’s going to be a different winter.

entry level jobs are entry level jobs that are not supposed to provide you with I’m living with you work your way up, you improve your skills and then you managed to move up the ladder

I see where one of those dollar type stores in the mall is looking to hire a price checker. The last one demanded to work from home.

Bring back union jobs with living wages and see how long it takes to fill those jobs.

Back in 1953, Santa had to bring in additional elves from the South Pole, as recounted in the classic parody recording “Christmas Dragnet” (aka “Yulenet”) by Stan Freberg and Daws Butler (where the antipodean helpers are referred to as ‘brownies’):

https://youtu.be/VUcEnZZxO9Y

A lot of workers also began to truly understand how well they were appreciated. Servers, people who bus tables and do other restaurant tasks were shown the door when the pandemic broke out. The cooks still worked, the owners worked with delivery services, but a large portion of the food service industry was shut out. And a lot of those people realized they were taking in very little money and a lot of abuse in their current jobs, and rightly decided not to go back to that same environment.

The fact that the US refuses to do anything about its immigration and asylum laws means that the employers don’t have immigrants to fill the void, yet they are unwilling to provide better work environments or pay.

A lot of people now have elderly or sick relatives who cannot afford (or even find) outside services, so many have to leave the work force to care for them.

There are many factors, and none of them are recent. It’s just that we, as a nation, have had time to sit back and take a good look at where we are and where we want to be.

Maybe a good opportunity, but you have to be an elf…

I hear the trolls could use some new jobs. Putin is laying off from the troll farms./s

More jobs than people, what a wonderful time to be a worker. Much as their is inflation, this time the wages are going to have to raise with it. Unlike that last few decades where inflation rose, but wages didn’t. It will be a little bumpy, but we will come out of it for the better. At least, for a while, until there are more people than jobs, then wages will go stagnant, but inflation will continue to rise.

Must show proof of COVID vaccine card as well!

Past time for an ’Alt Xmas", dinner, candles, readings and No presents.

There are some Jobs that American Elves refuse to do any more.

Getting paid off in Candy Canes just no longer cuts it.

You can’t buy a new Snowmobile with Candy Canes.