John Schmidt has been playing Santa Claus for four years. Though Schmidt clearly has the natural assets the gig requires—he’s jolly, he’s plumpish, his eyes twinkle—his wife talked him into it. She had played Mrs. Claus in the mall and had pestered him to join her. He kept saying no, and then finally, for no good reason, he relented. Now, four years later, he’s thinking big: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

How often to you play Santa?

About six days a week. You’ve got to be jolly, and you’ve got to love the kids. You’ve got to love what you’re doing, because you can’t have an attitude. The kids will come up saying what they want for Christmas, and all you can say is “Yes, we’ll see what we can do.” You never promise nothing. What a lot of kids do, they come up and I ask them what they want. They say, “I want peace on earth.” And I say, “Well, Santa Claus can try,” but we never promise nothing.

Does it ever hurt to be Santa Claus?

The little babies, the tiny ones, reach up and grab the beard. But I had one the other night, this lady came up with her son, she said, “Didn’t that bother you?” I said, “No, it didn’t bother me.” The little baby was just yanking on it. And I’m busy just talking about what the kid wants for Christmas.

What do you do when kids start crying?

I try to calm them down. I say, “Look, Santa Claus is not going to hurt you. Santa Claus brings the toys to you,” and stuff like that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t.

What’s your favorite thing about being Santa?

Watching the kids as they come up or walking by the set and waving to Santa Claus. The older kids—I don’t think they believe so much. But the younger kids—that’s what I like, the young kids. Five, six, seven. You get them any older than that, they don’t believe in Santa. And that’s what makes me happy. Even little tiny babies, they bring them up, they get a smile, no matter what.

Is there something you particularly like about playing Santa Claus in Buffalo?

It snows. That’s Buffalo for you. I took a picture of myself and I’m gong to send it to Macy’s, see if I can get in the Thanksgiving parade next year. Because I watched the parade this year and that Santa Claus didn’t look nothing like Santa Claus.