Greetings from Iceland, where we are wrapping up the Elf Supervisor annual meetings. Elf Crash Murphy has just dismissed the proceedings and the Elf Supervisors are now on their way to their home base in their assigned sectors.

That is where they will remain until Santa returns home from the North Pole after his Christmas flight around the world.

It does not have to be this way. The Elf Supervisors could all do their jobs without having to be at their Regional Tracking Center all the time. They could go home to the North Pole, or wherever home is for each of them, on weekends and such but they all refuse to do so. Within the micro culture of Elf Supervisor there is a belief – a superstition – that they can’t go home until Santa heads home.

Elves are superstitious about a lot of things.

Take, for example, the elves working the test flights of Santa’s sleigh. Right now, those elves refuse to talk to any of the North Pole media.

Why?

Because the proposed sleigh design for Santa this year is doing so very well.

There’s almost no news to report about the sleigh. And that’s news. But I can tell you all the reporters we have sent over to Flight Command to get information about the test flights and how they are going are running into a stone wall. There isn’t an elf over there who will talk about it.

Not a single sleigh traffic controller, sleigh designer, or test pilot will give an interview. None of the reindeer handlers, or the sleigh builders or the map elves or even the leadership in the Sleigh Department will talk about Santa’s new sleigh.

They believe, if they do talk about Santa’s new sleigh, things will stop going so well.

You see – and I’m NOT superstitious – Santa’s sleigh has been perfect so far this year. It has passed every test. They are setting records with it in every way. In good weather and in bad, this sleigh is proving to be a winner.

Do you recall last year where it seemed a new version of the sleigh came out every couple of weeks, right up until Christmas?

None of that is going on this year. They are on Version 2 and that’s only because Version 1 of the sleigh needed to be painted a different color.

They just can’t find anything wrong with it. Santa’s instructions, every year, is to keep flying the sleigh until it’s perfect. Keep fixing it and making it faster. That’s what Santa wants.

But right now I can tell you we’re not seeing a new version of the sleigh because they can’t find anything wrong with it. It just gets better and better the more the fly it.

During the Elf Supervisor meeting this week they had one of the 12 sleighs here in Iceland to give all of us a demonstration. Only six total reindeer were pulling that sleigh. In the demo the sleigh set a speed record.

Since I was the only news elf there I wanted to post a news story about that on SantaUpdate.com.

I talked to the team sent to supervise that flight. I talked to the crew of the Mistletoe, the ship from the North Pole Navy assigned to monitor the flight. I talked to the guys from Flight Command on the radio tracking the flight. Not a single one of those elves wanted to be quoted talking about that flight.

Why? Because they don’t want to jinx things. Things are going so well there isn’t an elf involved with the sleigh project who will talk to the News Department because they believe if they do somehow, magically, the sleigh will stop performing so well.

What does all this superstition really mean?

It means that elves, in our most pure sense, really want to do well. We want Santa to succeed. We want our part of Operation Merry Christmas to NOT be the part that holds Santa back or, heaven forbid, causes Santa to fail.

So we get careful about things when things are going well. I would tell you this is true in every department at the North Pole, not just the elves working on Santa’s sleigh.

Some of us – a few of us, actually – do not buy into this line of thinking. I’m proud to say I mess up all the time.

But, I understand why I can think that way and an elf working on Santa’s sleigh can’t.

If I mess up delivering the news, what do I hurt? If I make a punctuation error, spell someone’s name wrong or provide a news detail that is false does it affect Santa or Operation Merry Christmas?

Nah. There’s no need for me to be superstitious.

Santa, if he could see all this in the sleigh elves right now, likely would not be happy. People who are superstitious can sometimes put too much pressure on themselves. And that will cause other problems, especially problems that aren’t necessary.

For example, I know for a fact that Elf Morty has a rash right now.

Morty is what they call a “body man”, his elf specialty being the construction, repair and painting of the sleigh body. He’s highly skilled. His job with the sleigh varies through out the year and it is basically a job where that sleigh is made to look perfect at all time in all weather. He builds, he molds, he polishes and then he washes and waxes and shines that sleigh to no end.

And the poor guy is falling apart right now.

Every time one of those test sleighs head out on a flight he’s a nervous wreck. He anxiously watches the web cam on the sleigh, follows the weather it is flying through, and he’s there with his tools, his polisher, his rags and his “shine team” for the moment that sleigh is parked. Its like he’s expecting a baby every time it flies.

And now he’s got a rash. That is caused by stress and worry. And I’ll tell you right now that if Santa knew about it he’d send Morty to see Elf Dr. Lionel at the North Pole Medical Center.

Of course, Santa’s going to read this. Santa might be away from the North Pole but he’s well aware of what we’re all doing. Somehow. That’s just the way it is.

So Morty, pack your bags. It’s time to do something about that rash.

But none of this would be necessary if it were not for superstitions. To be superstitious is to believe in something that maybe not be real. That’s a dangerous business when you work for Santa.

So Santa will be right to send Morty to get some help. It is best that we are all healthy as we take care of the business of Christmas.

What about you? And what about your Elf Supervisor? Do you follow superstitious routines?

I hope not. Your Elf Supervisor is about to connect with you. They have some very detailed plans for this year.

But things can go off the rails pretty quick unless we remained focused and confident.

Our work as tracker elves – and believe me, come Christmas Eve we’re all tracker elves – is not for the feint of heart or the superstitious.

So let’s be calm. Let’s be confident.

And let’s all bring our lucky rabbit’s foot.

We don’t have money at the North Pole.

That’s not to say we’re broke. We just don’t use money.

There are no vending machines. No tips for servers. No coin laundries, no credit cards, and no red kettles for bell-ringing Santas.

Elves technically don’t make money.

Yes, there’s an elf union. And every now and then they make the local news to saying they are working on behalf of elves.

But let’s be truthful: without having wages to argue over what’s a union to do?

Really.

Truth is, we’re paid in eggnog and sugar cookies.

That’s because we don’t need money at the North Pole. In fact, we don’t need a lot of things.

You see, the North Pole is kind of a no man’s land. A lot of countries lay claim to the Arctic Region where the North Pole is: Denmark, Canada, Russia, the USA, just to name a few.

But none really have a flag planted here. There are no government facilities, no tax collectors, no police handing out tickets to speeding sleighs. None of that stuff.

Where there is no government, there is no money.

Wow, what a loaded statement, eh? Hahaha.

I bring all this up because there seems to be some sort of disconnect about Santa, money and advertising.

In your world where you live you see Santa as shaped by movies, music, the Internet, parents, community events and ads. Especially ads.

Over the years Santa has been used by all kinds of businesses, products and organizations in their ads.

Santa hates that. He hates it even for good products and good businesses.

It is not fair to him.

Santa, after all, is a person. He has feelings. He really does not appreciate it when a child sits on his lap and asks, “Santa, do you really eat Oreos?”

The truth, of course, is no, Santa does not eat Oreos. He does not like what they do to his teeth. And, frankly, being a man with many diverse tastes in cookies, Santa doesn’t cotton to being tied to just one brand.

If he came out and said he genuinely liked Oreos then that is what everyone would leave out for him on Christmas Eve (many do anyway). But can you imagine how awful Christmas Eve would be for Santa if all he got was a steady diet of Oreos?

But that is not why Santa doesn’t mention Oreos in any official way. He does not mention any particular brand of anything.

He does not endorse things. Not cookies, not clothes, not cars, not fertilizer and not any number of crazy things people out there SAY that Santa endorses.

He doesn’t do commercials.

And he has no interest in money.

None.

Santa is one big reason why we don’t have money at the North Pole. He hates the stuff.

But this is a persistent question from believers and elves everywhere, especially those tracker elves who work away from the North Pole.

Tracker elves are everywhere. They see ads and use money in the countries where they live.

When Santa comes to visit those countries he too deals with all the advertising and, if he wants a burger or something, he will need to use their money in order to get it.

Santa is a rule keeper. He’s got no problem keeping the rules and laws of the places he visits.

But where he calls home – the North Pole – there is no use for money.

There are ads, if I’m being honest here. We put them on the radio. But it is not the same as ads everywhere else. When we hear the ad for Elf Eggnog, for example, it isn’t so we can rush out and buy the stuff. It’s just to remind us that it’s there.

Our ads at the North Pole tend to be funny as well as informative. After all, what else to ad makers have to work for in their work here? To be funniest among the ads is a thing here because they cannot measure their success in sales. Nobody sells anything here.

But, that is not to say that money and ads do not have a place in the heart of Santa.

I want to make sure you understand this.

If Santa does endorse something it’s charity. He might speak up in support of a cause. He frequently will use speaking opportunities, community gatherings and other events to speak up in the cause of helping another person.

For example, Santa is a frequent supporter of Santa’s Sleigh, an organization dedicated to spreading a little Christmas cheer to individuals and families in need at Christmas. They are on many North Pole websites as a “sponsor”.

But it’s not a hard sell.

Products and stuff that bear the “official” North Pole endorsement are very few. Santa has to approve each one and his likeness is never used in promoting them. “Official” North Pole products are made to support Santa’s Sleigh.

We know that out there in the world, especially at Christmas, you are bombarded with ads and commercialization.

Santa does not approve.

If truth be told, most of you really don’t approve either.

Yes, Christmas shopping is fun. Giving gifts is fun. Receiving gifts is fun.

Christmas decorating, Christmas foods, Christmas events, Christmas entertainment all costs money.

But it doesn’t have to.

Look at the North Pole. We do all that stuff and never spend a dime.

Your world, we know, is different. Santa understands.

But he wants you to understand that none of that comes from him. Christmas is about loving and serving others. “Others” does not necessarily mean the profiteers.

It’s okay not to spend. It is okay to decorate with items laying around the house, colored in crayon and taped together. It is okay to make things by hand. Sometimes giving less is giving more.

That’s what Santa officially endorses.

Now, no doubt this post is going to raise some questions in your mind. There are differences between the North Pole and where you live.

That’s okay. Ask your questions.

Just don’t ask Santa to endorse anything. He won’t do it and isn’t interested in the profits.