I get to work with Santa

Review time has arrived and, even though this is supposed to be one of my days off this week, I have been busy trying to be fair and unbiased.  When I worked for IP we actually reviewed our associate's performance over the last year.  This is not the case with my current employer.  The process has devolved into little more then a pat on the back.  We are not permitted to point out any weaknesses or missteps, instead we are supposed to tactfully provide positive "game plans."  So, if during last year's review cycle I assigned an associate a particular task, and during the past year needed to remind that person several times to do that assigned task, I'm not allowed to mention it during this year's review.  Instead I'm supposed to point out the things that were done well, give them a pat on the back as well as another strong "game plan."  Right.

Not that I really have any issues with my associates, it's actually one of the best teams in the store.  I took a selfie with some of them, so here they are, in case you're wondering what they look like.

The first thing people say when they see this pic is "oh, you work with Santa Claus."  Yes, it's true, I work with Santa.  Actually, I'm Santa's boss.  And you always thought it was Mrs. Claus.  He takes off the month of December and dons his Santa garb and visits schools and hospitals and such.  He's a very nice man.

In fact, every one of my associates is nice, as long as you over look certain issues.  One of them has a serious problem with those customers who speak English as a second language.  One of them works the time-clock to the tune of about an hour and a half each week.  Hey, nobody's perfect.  I have one associate who does quite well with a part-time cake decorating business, but takes orders while working.  In the scheme of things, these are small problems, not the sort of things I would consider mentioning on a review.  And I do get to work with Santa.  Now you got to admit that's pretty neat.