柏林鬧起“圣誕老人荒”

Berlin is facing an acute shortage of Santas four weeks from Christmas， the head of a Father Christmas placement agency said on Monday.

The director of Berlin's \"Heinzelmaennchen\" agency that acts as an intermediary for 5，000 families that order the 20-minute visits from a real live Santa Claus each year on December 24 said he was having trouble getting enough qualified help this year.

\"We need at least 300 Santas to meet the demand but we only have about 100 signed up so far，\" said Rene Heydeck， 40， who also runs the agency's \"Father Christmas desk\".

\"We prefer chubby men， of course， ideally with a real beard but we're not picky and take what we get，\" he told Reuters.

The Santas， many of whom are students， earn 28 euros (19 pounds) for each performance -- bringing in a sack of presents provided outside the door by parents and handing out the gifts. They start at about 3 p.m. and are finished by about 9 p.m.

The 300 Santas visit an average of 10 to 12 families， although some have managed up to 20， Heydeck said. In return， the Santas must buy their costumes for 45 euros and have to pay the agency 15 percent of their earnings.

\"If they're quick， they can earn a nice sum，\" Heydeck said of the men， who range from a student of 20 to a 72-year-old retired professor \"with a real beard\" now in his 28th season. \"Children between 2 and 7 still believe in Santa，\" he said.

\"In a lot of families in Berlin it's a tradition that carries on even after the children grow older and stop believing，\" Heydeck said.

德國首都柏林一家圣誕老人職業介紹中心的負責人11月27日表示，在距離圣誕節僅剩下大約4周時，該市卻出現了圣誕老人嚴重緊缺的現象。

這家中介機構負責為柏林5000個家庭在每年12月24日提供圣誕老人上門服務，屆時將會有一名由真人扮成的圣誕老人前往各個家庭進行時間為20分鐘的登門拜訪。按照該機構主管的說法，他今年很可能無法找到足夠多的合格雇員。

現年40歲的雷內·海德克說：“我們需要至少300個圣誕老人才能滿足各方面的需求，但到目前為止僅有大約100人與我們簽約。

“我們偏愛那些體形較胖的男人，當然，最好真的長著一臉胡須，不過我們也并非吹毛求疵之人，原則上是來者不拒。”

這些圣誕老人（其中大部分人是在校學生）每次上門服務可以掙到28歐元，他們先是在門外得到由孩子父母提供的一個裝滿各種禮物的袋子，然后再走進屋內將這些物品分發給在場的孩子們。這些人的服務一般會在當天下午3點左右開始，一直要持續到晚上10點前后才告結束。

海德克還指出，這些圣誕老人平均每人要訪問10到12個家庭，但有些人則會走入多達20戶家庭。正所謂有得必有失，他們必須花上45歐元來購買所需的服裝，此外還要把自己收入的15%交還給該機構。

海德克在談到那些圣誕老人時說：“如果他們腿腳麻利的話，那就完全可以賺上一大筆錢。他們中年齡最小的是一位年僅20歲的學生，而最年長者則非一位72歲高齡的退休大學教授莫屬，此人真的長著大胡子，今年已經是他第28次參加這一活動了。“那些年齡在2歲到7歲的孩子仍然對圣誕老人深信不疑。”

海德克說：“對于柏林的很多家庭來說，請圣誕老人光臨家中已經成為了一種傳統，即便在孩子們已經長大且不再相信圣誕老人時，此項活動也還是要繼續進行下去的。”