We had a chance to meet with Elf Victor, head elf of reindeer operations, in Elf Chat this week and this is how the conversation went:
| Elf Max | Thanks for joining us. Today we have a very special guest, Elf Victor, long time head elf of Reindeer Operations at the North Pole |
| Elf Victor | Thank you for having me. |
| Elf Max | Victor, before we get into the stuff we have planned, we are getting lots of questions about Donner |
| Elf Victor | I know, I know |
| Elf Max | Well….what do you know? When will he be back to the North Pole? |
| Elf Victor | Donner’s okay. He’ll be here in plenty of time. There is no need to worry. |
| Elf Max | Well, I think people want to know why he’s not there when all the other reindeer are. |
| Elf Victor | To be honest with you, that’s something Santa knows more about than me. I have my hands full with all the others. |
| Elf Max | Do you think we shouldn’t have said that Donner wasn’t there? |
| Elf Victor | No, I think Santa’s policy about being honest in all things is always best. |
| Elf Max | But does hiding details make it honest? |
| Elf Victor | Nobody is hiding details. I just told you I don’t have details other than Santa said not to worry about it. |
| Elf Max | So does that mean only Santa knows what is going on? |
| Elf Victor | Yes, as far as I know. I certainly don’t know. I love Donner, he and I have worked together for hundreds of years. If Santa says there are no worries, then there are no worries. I’m guessing Donner has a family thing or something going on and that it is really not a story. |
| Elf Max | Okay. The crush of these questions is tremendous. |
| Elf Victor | Yes, I get it. Not a day goes by without the questions. |
| Elf Max | Ok, hopefully we will know something soon. |
| Elf Victor | Hopefully. |
| Elf Max | Without Donner there at the North Pole has there been irregularities to the reindeer routine? |
| Elf Victor | No, not at all because the routine doesn’t begin until we’re into the post-Thanksgiving period. It’s about a 30-day training routine that includes the reindeer game. Before then we are doing things like long conditioning |
| Elf Max | What’s long conditioning? |
| Elf Victor | That is where we look at injuries or stress that happened to the reindeer from last season or even beyond. Some of these reindeer, like Donner, are getting a little old, even for reindeer |
| Elf Max | How long can reindeer live? |
| Elf Victor | Well, these are Santa’s reindeer we’re talking about so there is not much that is normal about them |
| Elf Max | Ok, now we’re getting somewhere. How are Santa’s reindeer different than regular reindeer? |
| Elf Victor | Well, how is Santa different from a regular person? |
| Elf Max | I don’t know how to answer that. |
| Elf Victor | And I don’t know how to exactly explain how Santa’s reindeer are different. But they are. That’s all I know. |
| Elf Max | Santa’s says you are the foremost expert on reindeer in all the world. |
| Elf Victor | Well Santa is very kind. That’s what the sort of stuff kind men say. |
| Elf Max | Well, if you can’t explain how Santa’s reindeer are different then who can? |
| Elf Victor | Isn’t it enough to just say they are Santa’s reindeer and leave it at that? |
| Elf Max | You’re comfortable with that? Aren’t you the least bit curious? |
| Elf Victor | Of course, I am. But not like when I was a much younger elf. I’m old now, even for an elf. But I’ve come to realize that we don’t need to explain every bit of mystery and magic about what goes into Santa. |
| Elf Max | A lot of people won’t accept that. |
| Elf Victor | Well, I know. That’s too bad. Those who reject the magic of Santa deny themselves the real flavor of life. |
| Elf Max | What do you mean? |
| Elf Victor | I mean that we don’t leave this world understanding everything. I mean, why is every snow flake unique? That’s a good question but is my life going to change if I can wrap my head around that simple little mystery? |
| Elf Max | So you’re saying it is okay that we don’t know the secret to Santa’s reindeer? |
| Elf Victor | Yes, I’m saying its okay. |
| Elf Max | But I want to know. |
| Elf Victor | Of course you want to know. But here’s the problem. You already do know. Santa comes. Every year. You can’t deny that can you? |
| Elf Max | Of course not. I believe. |
| Elf Victor | Ok, since you know that then you know that Santa has reindeer. Very special reindeer that can fly. They are part of how he does what Santa does. We cannot deny that, can we? |
| Elf Max | No sir. |
| Elf Victor | Ok. So you know it’s true and that it happens. Who cares if you don’t know every detail like how reindeer fly or getting around the world in one night? |
| Elf Max | Ok, I can accept that. |
| Elf Victor | That’s the deal right there: acceptance. Like the Donner thing. If Santa says he’s ok, well, then I’m accepting of that and I will just wait for Donner to show up and when he does we’ll get down to work. |
| Elf Max | Well, what if Donner doesn’t show up until Christmas Eve? |
| Elf Victor | Then we’ll figure it out. |
| Elf Max | Simple as that? |
| Elf Victor | Simple as that. Things always work out. Even when things go wrong, things work out. |
| Elf Max | Did Santa tell you that? |
| Elf Victor | No, just years of experience. But I can tell you Santa thinks much the same way. |
| Elf Max | How long have you and Santa known each other? |
| Elf Victor | Oh golly, most my life. |
| Elf Max | Were you always an expert on reindeer? |
| Elf Victor | No, but I’ve pretty much always worked with reindeer as an elf. From the very beginning. |
| Elf Max | Are the reindeer as old as you? |
| Elf Victor | Oh, they are much older. I don’t know the whole story but I know some of it. |
| Elf Max | Can you share all you know? |
| Elf Victor | Nope. That’s the honest truth. There’s some details I just cannot tell you. There are also details I just don’t know. But I will tell you all I can about how reindeer work and what tracker elves need to know about them in order to do their job. |
| Elf Max | Ok, fair enough. I appreciate that. Do tracker elves really need to worry about the reindeer? |
| Elf Victor | Not much and not usually. However, a tracker elf is an elf. So they need to be ready to contribute in any way possible. |
| Elf Max | What does that mean? |
| Elf Victor | Well, many years before you joined us Santa had a little emergency in Latvia. He needed some help and he needed an elf. The closest elf to him just happened to a tracker elf in Latvia. |
| Elf Victor | So Santa asked him up on the sleigh to help him lift some stuff. Santa, you see, suffered a fall. Broke a rib and sprained an ankle. He needed another pair of hands. There just happened to be a tracker elf nearby. |
| Elf Max | No way! |
| Elf Victor | Yes, it does not happen a lot but it can happen. |
| Elf Max | How could a tracker elf possibly help with reindeer? I would be scared of doing something wrong. |
| Elf Victor | Most of the time it’s just a matter of being prepared with food and water. A lot of people think of Santa and leave him cookies and milk. But they forget all the reindeer. We expect our trackers to think of the reindeer. |
| Elf Max | So that’s why we get so much instruction about what reindeer can eat and drink? |
| Elf Victor | Yes, that’s right. It is an elf’s duty to see that the reindeer always have the right kind of things to eat and drink available, especially when Santa is on his trek. |
| Elf Max | We should probably write that into the training somewhere. |
| Elf Victor | That’s a good idea. But I think most serious trackers already know this. |
| Elf Max | You mentioned an elf had to help Santa when he got injured. What about a reindeer? How does an elf know what to do when or if a reindeer gets injured? |
| Elf Victor | We don’t expect that. But we do expect an elf to get hold of us at the North Pole and that whoever receives messages from tracker elves response to such an emergency message appropriately. |
| Elf Max | Victor, this is really good information. Thank you for sharing it with us today. |
| Elf Victor | Thank you for allowing me to. I always love to discuss Santa’s reindeer. |
| Elf Max | We’ll do it again then! |
Wow! Thanks for sharing! I was sad I couldn’t make it to the chat- ty!
Oh man I missed it I guess I need to check the calendar more often