A Christmas wonderland to keep children safe from harm

In San Francisco going to The Nutcracker has been a Christmas tradition since the 1940s. The San Francisco Ballet performed it twice last Saturday, once at 2pm and once at 7pm, even as the flag hung at half-mast on the roof above. Children were walking towards the auditorium in their Christmas clothes.

“A canon [sic] will be fired during this performance,” stated a notice near the box office. You could see that everything was very considered and well thought out. Tickets start at $35. The stone walls of the foyer were hung with Christmas greenery – it was terribly glamorous in that oldfashioned way that children approve of.

It was the day after 20 primary school children and their teachers were murdered in Newtown, Connecticut. The flag hung at half-mast on the roof of City Hall too, and inside there was a wedding. “It’s a private function,” said the man on the steps. “You can’t go in.” He had just handed his hip flask to a friend. Inside the glass doors you could see people in their party clothes. The day was dull and chilly.

Snow Day

In the square in front of City Hall there was a special play event for children. “It’s Snow Day,” said a lady in red Santa hat. “It happens every year. It’s free.” The mayor’s office referred to it as the Snow Park.

There was a gentle snow-slope constructed in the middle of the sandy ground of the square, to provide Californian children with the snow of which they are probably deprived. Small children were climbing the steps up the back, and being carefully placed on large plastic trays – the organisers referred to them as saucers – then gently launched downhill.

The slope was so gentle and the organisers so careful that some of the smaller, lighter children hardly made it half-way to where their parents were waiting with cameras at the end of the enclosure. Even so, some of the saucers wobbled on their journey and the kids spilled out, surprised.

All the adults working on the entertainments were wearing Santa hats. In fact Santa himself was there, in a small pavilion tent, accompanied by a talking reindeer. Some of us felt that the reindeer had overdone it a bit on the lip gloss, but she seemed an amiable sort, one of life’s enthusiasts. “Did I ever!” the reindeer was saying to some small children and their mothers. “Did I ever!”

There were three bouncy castles, one of which was a special one for people under four years of age. Each bouncy edifice came with a strident warning: “Do not enter unless operator is on duty”. The under-fours were not allowed on to their specific bouncy thing, another sign said, unless accompanied by an adult.