More Than Elves

Let’s be clear: Santa Claus is nothing without the elves. Behind every large jolly holiday icon and his publicist are an army of workers manufacturing the goods that keep Christmas alive year after year. Santa knows this, of course. He maintains exceptional relationships with the elves because the last thing anyone wants are Charlies-in-The-Box, polka-dotted elephants, or trains with square wheels.

Last we heard, Santa even offers Payactiv to the entire elf workforce.

Of course, American workers are more than elves. They hold a title that is more applicable today than ever before. 

American workers are Helpers. Yes, we capitalize that word, because it is a class unto itself.

Why Helpers? We look back to 1983, when the legendary Mister Rogers wrote in his book Mister Rogers Talks with Parents, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is the scariest thing the news has delivered in quite some time, and it just seems to go on and on, getting more and more scary by the day. What does America do? It looks for the Helpers.

It looks for you.

Throughout these troubling times, businesses like yours are still moving, still producing, still making the things your fellow Americans need. Like Santa’s workshop, this is a year-round effort that never sleeps because it cannot sleep. And like the toys the elves create that bring joy to children, every single thing you do brings joy to your fellow American.  

That’s right. It doesn’t matter if you manufacture steel bearings, egg nog, or sugar plum pudding. Every piece is part of a whole, and is part of something else that makes our lives normal. When our lives feel normal these days, there is joy. It may be expressed in a smile or a laugh, a sigh of relief, or sometimes it isn’t expressed at all. But it’s there.  

All of America has been looking to you for much of the year. They may not realize it, but they are looking to you for your help. To help keep life normal. To help others get what they need. 

Sometimes other terms are used to describe workers employed during the pandemic. The most frequent term is “essential worker”. Payactiv never liked that term. That’s because all workers are essential. Every worker in every industry, all over the world, is essential. Workers are not only essential to the functioning of the business, but they are essential to the fabric that binds society together. The body is not one member, but many.  

If there are no workers, there is no business. If there is no business, there are neither goods nor services. If there are neither goods nor services, there is no commerce. If there is no commerce, there is no society.

After all, who would refer to one of Santa’s elves as “non-essential”? Maybe Jack Frost, with his heart of ice, but nobody else.

As Christmas approaches, never forget that you are essential.

We wouldn’t be here without you.
We wouldn’t have presents.
We wouldn’t have joy.
We wouldn’t have help.

That’s because we have you.

The Helpers.