LONELY. I’M NOT SAD, IT’S JUST LONELY. WAYNE MCCRAY HAS BEEN THE SANTA AT THIS MALL FOR 35 YEARS. A SHOPPERS POST WENT VIRAL ABOUT A SAD SANTA AT MARLEY STATION MALL. LET ME GO UP THERE AND TELL HIM THAT HE’S GOING VIRAL. SHELLY FAGAN SAW THE POST AND MADE A BEELINE FOR THE MALL. SHE’S KNOWN THIS SANTA FOR YEARS. THE POST WAS SOMEBODY CAME THE OTHER DAY AND SAID THAT SANTA LOOKED VERY SAD BECAUSE HE’S ONLY HAD ONE PERSON COME SEE HIM ALL DAY. VANESSA BLACK WORKS AT THIS BOOTH BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN EMPTY. AS YOU CAN SEE, NO ONE’S BEEN COMING TO VISIT SANTA. SANTA SAYS STORES HAVE BEEN MOVING OUT, SO THERE’S NOT A LOT OF FOOT TRAFFIC. THIS IS SO HE UNDERSTANDS AND SAYS THERE IS AN ADVANTAGE TO ALL THIS WHEN THERE’S A KID HERE. I GET TO TALK TO HIM AND I GET TO TALK TO HIM. I DON’T HAVE TO RUSH HIM OUT, YOU KNOW? JUST THAT. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS TYPE THING? I COULD ACTUALLY ASK HIM HOW THINGS ARE GOING. HOW’S SCHOOL? ALL THIS WHERE MOST OF THE OTHER PLACES YOU HAVE TO RUSH IT OUT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THEY’RE PUMPING OUT TO GET THE PICTURES DONE. AND WHAT DO KIDS WANT THIS YEAR? BIG THING THIS YEAR IS BARBIE’S HOUSE AND REMOTE CONTROL CARS. IT’S REAL. YOU HAD ANY DOUBT? REALLY? WELL. JUST CHECKING. SO IF YOU CAN COME CHECK SANTA OUT. HE LOVES TO SEE YOU PEOPLE SHOULD COME ON AND CHEER HIM UP. COME SEE HIM. SAY HI. EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT TAKING PHOTOS, JUST COME AND TELL HIM HI. COME DOWN TO MARLEY STATION AND SEE SANTA BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. YEAH, WE’VE GOT, WHAT, THREE MORE WEEKS? SANTA. YEAH. WELL, MERRY CHRISTMAS,
‘It’s just lonely’: Smalltown Santa seeing fewer visitors as stores close in Maryland mall
‘We’ve been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,’ a mall worker said
Visiting Santa Claus is a tradition for children young and old, but a viral social media post is bringing some people down.See Santa in the video above”I’m not sad, it’s just lonely,” said Wayne McCrae, who has been Santa at the Marley Station Mall for 35 years.A shopper’s post about a sad Santa went viral. Shelley Fagan saw the post and headed to the mall. She’s known Santa for years.”The post was somebody came the other day and said that Santa looked very sad because he only had one person come to see him all day,” Fagan said.Vanessa Black works at a booth in the mall.”We’ve been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,” Black said.Santa said stores have been moving out, so there’s not a lot of traffic. But he said there is an advantage to all this.”When there’s a kid here, I talk to them, and I get to talk to them — I don’t have to rush them out, I can actually ask them, ‘How are things going? How’s school?’ Other places have to rush them out to get pictures done,” McCrae said.Santa said some of the bigger things on kids’ wish lists this year include this year’s Barbie house and remote-controlled cars.”People should come on in, cheer him up, come say hi,” Black said. “Even if you’re not taking photos, just come and say hi.””Come down to Marley Station and see Santa before it’s too late,” Fagan said. “What do we have? We’ve got, what, three more weeks of Santa?”
Visiting Santa Claus is a tradition for children young and old, but a viral social media post is bringing some people down.
See Santa in the video above
“I’m not sad, it’s just lonely,” said Wayne McCrae, who has been Santa at the Marley Station Mall for 35 years.
A shopper’s post about a sad Santa went viral. Shelley Fagan saw the post and headed to the mall. She’s known Santa for years.
“The post was somebody came the other day and said that Santa looked very sad because he only had one person come to see him all day,” Fagan said.
Vanessa Black works at a booth in the mall.
“We’ve been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,” Black said.
Santa said stores have been moving out, so there’s not a lot of traffic. But he said there is an advantage to all this.
“When there’s a kid here, I talk to them, and I get to talk to them — I don’t have to rush them out, I can actually ask them, ‘How are things going? How’s school?’ Other places have to rush them out to get pictures done,” McCrae said.
Santa said some of the bigger things on kids’ wish lists this year include this year’s Barbie house and remote-controlled cars.
“People should come on in, cheer him up, come say hi,” Black said. “Even if you’re not taking photos, just come and say hi.”
“Come down to Marley Station and see Santa before it’s too late,” Fagan said. “What do we have? We’ve got, what, three more weeks of Santa?”
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