Merry Christmas from Asbury Park

The Asbury Park Press in New Jersey ran a Q&A interview Monday with the big man himself, Kriss Kringle, edited for clarity and space by assistant business editor Dennis Carmody.

Here are some snippets:

EDUCATION: I graduated from Jingle Bell University, and I received many degrees from that school, including toymaking and distribution, belly laughs, elf relations, sleigh piloting and navigation, reindeerology, child behavior research and most of all, time management.

HOMETOWN: North Pole

EMPLOYER: I’m self-employed. I’m Santa, that’s the employer and that’s me.

JOB DESCRIPTION: My work is many-fold. In the off-season, I oversee a huge workshop of toymakers, and this is run by my elves. I also take care of my reindeer during that time.

During Christmas season, I spend many hours visiting children here at Freehold Raceway Mall. I read their letters and I check their lists — I check them twice. If they give me a letter or list, I take them with me to the North Pole every night, and I just kick back and read them and make sure I know exactly what the children want.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR JOB? Well, it’s a family business. I come from a long line of toymakers.

SALARY AFTER FIVE YEARS: It fluctuates, based on the amount of cookies I receive. These cookies last me throughout the year. I have never run out of cookies.

The most important thing that I receive as my pay is the love and the laughter of the children.

Read the rest here. Nice to see a business section have some fun with the holiday.