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22 December 2023
THEY\'RE NOT CELEBRITIES. THEY WALK PAST YOU ON THE STREET, BRING YOU YOUR FOOD AT A RESTAURANT, AND LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. THEY\'RE EVERYDAY PEOPLE. JUST LIKE YOU.
DECEMBER 2004: KATIE AND ABBY STEIB
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! HE\'S ALSO MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE, AND COUSINS KATIE AND ABBY STEIB SWEAR THEY\'VE BEEN NICE. READ ALONG AND FIND OUT IF THEIR NAMES-- AND WAYNE AND VINNIE\'S NAMES, TOO-- ARE ON SANTA\'S GOOD LIST.
Wayne Chinsang: So, why don’t you two start by telling me what you got from Santa last year?
Abby Steib: Um... the only thing I can remember is a doll.
Katie Steib: The only thing that I can remember is a camera. (pauses) And a Barbie head.
All: (laugh)
WC: A Barbie head? What’s a Barbie head?
KS: One second. I’ll show you, because it’s hard to talk about it.
[KATIE GETS UP TO SEE IF HER BARBIE HEAD IS IN THE ROOM, BUT REALIZES IT ISN’T]
KS: It’s upstairs in my room, but it’s just like a head of a Barbie.
AS: Yeah. I have one, too.
KS: It’s as big as your head.
WC: Do you do her hair or something?
AS: Yeah. You can do its hair.
KS: One time, me and my babysitter braided all the parts of her hair. Mine has pink and blonde hair.
WC: Whoa.
AS: Well, I just have ponies [ponytails] that I can put in Barbie’s hair. I got it, but nothing came along with it. But then I got some ponies to go with it. And then I did her hair.
WC: You didn’t get that for Christmas, though, did you?
AS: No.
WC: What did you get that for?
AS: Mmmm... it was at the church garage sale. We have that sometimes.
WC: Oh, okay.
KS: And another thing that I remember that I got for Christmas was a camera.
WC: You got that last year?
KS: Yeah.
WC: Is it a digital camera or a film camera?
KS: It’s a Bratz camera.
WC: A what?
KS: Bratz camera.
WC: Oh, a Bratz camera. I thought you said it was a brass camera.
All: (laugh)
WC: So, are you guys excited about Christmas this year?
AS: Yes.
KS: Yeah. I made, like, six Christmas lists.
All: (laugh)
WC: Six?
KS: Yeah.
WC: (to Abby) Did you make your Christmas list yet?
AS: Ah, no. The only thing that I really want, the only thing that I’m going to probably get, is another doll. I’m collecting these doll princesses. Something like that.
WC: Why do you think you’re gonna get it?
KS: Because they come, like, every year or something.
AS: Yeah. And this year it’s Princess and the Pauper.
WC: Oh, okay. (to Katie) What did you ask for? I know you have six lists, but what’s the main thing?
KS: More Bratz things. I’ve got, like, a thousand dolls. I have a Bratz pool.
WC: A Bratz pool?
KS: Yeah. It comes with a volley ball.
WC: Ah, cool. So, have either of you ever seen Santa Claus before?
AS: I’ve seen him.
WC: Where’d you see him?
AS: At Brookfield Square Mall.
WC: Oh, yeah?
KS: When I went my first time, he spit on me.
All: (laugh)
WC: He spit on you?!? On accident, I hope. Or was it on purpose?
All: (laugh)
Bob Steib [Katie\'s father]: He was probably shocked by the ten lists.
All: (laugh)
WC: So, he was just talking to you, and he spit on you?
KS: Yeah.
WC: (to Abby) So, did you get spit on by Santa at Brookfield Square?
All: (laugh)
AS: No.
WC: So, you both have seen him at malls, but have you ever seen him in the house? Or are you both in bed?
KS: We’re in bed.
WC: Do you put cookies out for him?
AS: Sometimes I put cookies out for Santa.
KS: I put cookies and carrots out.
WC: Carrots?
KS: For the reindeer.
WC: Oh, for the reindeer.
AS: I put out cookies and milk. And then carrots, too.
WC: You put out carrots, too? You people are strange.
All: (laugh)
KS: Well, some reindeer need food to eat.
WC: That’s true. Who is your favorite reindeer?
AS: Rudolph.
WC: Good one.
KS: I don’t know.
WC: You don’t have one?
KS: No. I don’t have one.
WC: So, when Christmas morning comes, do you both wake up really early?
KS: Yeah. First I wake up my parents with my sister. She wakes up at 8:30, and then she wakes me up. And then we go in the living room. And then we wake up my mom and dad.
AS: Well, first I wake up my mom and dad, and then we go in the living room.
WC: Because you can’t open anything until your mom and dad are awake, right?
AS: Yeah.
KS: Last year they got me a portable DVD player.
WC: Your mom and dad, or Santa?
KS: My mom and dad.
WC: So you get gifts from Santa and your mom and dad?
KS: Yeah.
WC: I never did. But my mom and dad did spit on me.
All: (laugh)
WC: So do you both like the Holidays? I mean, do you like decorating and putting ornaments on the tree, and all that kind of stuff?
AS: Yeah. My birthday is in December.
WC: Really?
AS: Yeah.
KS: My birthday is four days before Valentine’s Day.
WC: Wow.
KS: And last year we had a party on Valentine’s Day. It was at Chuck E. Cheese’s.
WC: Whoa! We were just at Chuck E. Cheese two weeks ago.
AS: Last year I had my birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, too.
KS: I had a Valentine’s birthday cake.
WC: Wow. You’re lucky. (to Abby) So, Abby, your birthday is in December. When in December is it?
AS: Um... the 3rd.
WC: So your birthday is soon.
AS: Yep.
Vinnie Baggadonuts: So you get birthday gifts from your mom and dad, and then you get Christmas gifts from Santa and your mom and dad?
AS: Yeah.
VB: Does Santa get you birthday gifts?
AS: No.
All: (laugh)
WC: Does St. Nick come to your house on the night of December 5th?
AS: Yeah. Three days after my birthday.
WC: Right.
KS: Last year, St. Nick got me an Ashley doll from Mary-Kate and Ashley, and then Santa got me the Mary-Kate doll.
WC: So you had to wait three whole weeks until your Olsen collection was complete.
All: (laugh)
WC: Do you both hang stockings for St. Nick’s?
KS: Yeah. Me and Ann Marie [Katie’s older sister] take our stockings and put them on the TV cabinet doors.
WC: (to Abby) Where do you hang your stocking?
AS: Ummm... (pauses) I think I can’t remember.
WC: (laughs) That’s okay. Do you usually get only one thing from St. Nick? Or do you get candy or anything like that, too?
AS: I get three things.
KS: Yeah. Last year I got the doll and some candy and... something else.
AS: Me, too. I got a Barbie doll and some candy and... I forgot the other one. It must have been some stuff to go with the doll.
WC: What do you think Santa should bring for your mom and dad?
AS: Nothing.
All: (laugh)
KS: Well, last year, my mom got a digital camera.
BS: From who, though?
KS: I don’t know.
BS: It was from me.
KS: Oh.
WC: (laughs) Give credit where credit is due. What do your parents want? Or what do they deserve?
KS: My dad wants the second season of Buffy... on DVD.
AS: I don’t really know.
All: (laugh)
KS: And my mom wants a CD player for her car.
AS: I want a CD player for my car with earphones.
WC: You want a CD player for your car? You have a car? How old are you?
AS: I’m going to be six.
KS: I’m going to be seven.
AS: I’m going to be six in, like, two weeks.
WC: One week, actually.
BS: One week from today.
WC: Right. So, if Santa happens to read this interview before he comes to your house on Christmas, what do you want to tell him?
KS: Ah... thank you?
WC: Thank you for what?
KS: Presents.
WC: For all the presents in the past?
All: (laugh)
WC: Don’t you have anything you want to say to him?
KS: I sent him six letters already!
WC: Oh, you sent him letters in the mail?
KS: Yeah.
VB: Don’t you just email him?
KS: No. I know his address.
WC: What is it?
KS: 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole, Arctic Circle.
WC: That’s right. Very good. (to Abby) Do you want to say anything to Santa?
AS: (pauses) Ummm... toys?
All: (laugh)
WC: Have you both been good this year?
AS: Yes.
KS: Yeah.
WC: What have you done that’s good? Anyone can say they were good.
KS: I’m not telling you.
All: (laugh)
WC: Then it must be a lie.
KS: I don’t lie.
WC: So you did good things, but you don’t know what you did?
BS: Were you always good? No notes home from the teacher? No getting yelled at by your parents?
[NEITHER KATIE NOR ABBY SAY ANYTHING]
All: (laugh)
WC: I guess that’s a no. Well, that’s about it, guys. Thanks for doing this interview with me.
BS: What about that famous question?
WC: Oh, yeah. Do dogs have lips?
[BOTH KATIE AND ABBY JUST STARE AT WAYNE WITH A CONFUSED LOOK ON THEIR FACE]
All: (laugh)
WC: I’m serious. Do you think dogs have lips?
AS: I think they do.
KS: I have a dog book from my school’s library. I’ll go get it.
[KATIE GETS HER LIBRARY BOOK]
AS: (looking through the book with Katie) Oh, I see lips.
WC: Yeah. That’s a lip.
KS: Where? I don’t see any lips.
AS: (pointing) There. It’s purple.
KS: (shocked) Oh my God! That’s a lip?!?
All: (laugh)
KS: It does not look like a lip.
VB: I’m with you. I don’t think they have lips.
KS: Well, I think they have lips. But I don’t like it having purple lips.
All: (laugh)
DECEMBER 2004: KATIE AND ABBY STEIB
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! HE\'S ALSO MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE, AND COUSINS KATIE AND ABBY STEIB SWEAR THEY\'VE BEEN NICE. READ ALONG AND FIND OUT IF THEIR NAMES-- AND WAYNE AND VINNIE\'S NAMES, TOO-- ARE ON SANTA\'S GOOD LIST.
Wayne Chinsang: So, why don’t you two start by telling me what you got from Santa last year?
Abby Steib: Um... the only thing I can remember is a doll.
Katie Steib: The only thing that I can remember is a camera. (pauses) And a Barbie head.
All: (laugh)
WC: A Barbie head? What’s a Barbie head?
KS: One second. I’ll show you, because it’s hard to talk about it.
[KATIE GETS UP TO SEE IF HER BARBIE HEAD IS IN THE ROOM, BUT REALIZES IT ISN’T]
KS: It’s upstairs in my room, but it’s just like a head of a Barbie.
AS: Yeah. I have one, too.
KS: It’s as big as your head.
WC: Do you do her hair or something?
AS: Yeah. You can do its hair.
KS: One time, me and my babysitter braided all the parts of her hair. Mine has pink and blonde hair.
WC: Whoa.
AS: Well, I just have ponies [ponytails] that I can put in Barbie’s hair. I got it, but nothing came along with it. But then I got some ponies to go with it. And then I did her hair.
WC: You didn’t get that for Christmas, though, did you?
AS: No.
WC: What did you get that for?
AS: Mmmm... it was at the church garage sale. We have that sometimes.
WC: Oh, okay.
KS: And another thing that I remember that I got for Christmas was a camera.
WC: You got that last year?
KS: Yeah.
WC: Is it a digital camera or a film camera?
KS: It’s a Bratz camera.
WC: A what?
KS: Bratz camera.
WC: Oh, a Bratz camera. I thought you said it was a brass camera.
All: (laugh)
WC: So, are you guys excited about Christmas this year?
AS: Yes.
KS: Yeah. I made, like, six Christmas lists.
All: (laugh)
WC: Six?
KS: Yeah.
WC: (to Abby) Did you make your Christmas list yet?
AS: Ah, no. The only thing that I really want, the only thing that I’m going to probably get, is another doll. I’m collecting these doll princesses. Something like that.
WC: Why do you think you’re gonna get it?
KS: Because they come, like, every year or something.
AS: Yeah. And this year it’s Princess and the Pauper.
WC: Oh, okay. (to Katie) What did you ask for? I know you have six lists, but what’s the main thing?
KS: More Bratz things. I’ve got, like, a thousand dolls. I have a Bratz pool.
WC: A Bratz pool?
KS: Yeah. It comes with a volley ball.
WC: Ah, cool. So, have either of you ever seen Santa Claus before?
AS: I’ve seen him.
WC: Where’d you see him?
AS: At Brookfield Square Mall.
WC: Oh, yeah?
KS: When I went my first time, he spit on me.
All: (laugh)
WC: He spit on you?!? On accident, I hope. Or was it on purpose?
All: (laugh)
Bob Steib [Katie\'s father]: He was probably shocked by the ten lists.
All: (laugh)
WC: So, he was just talking to you, and he spit on you?
KS: Yeah.
WC: (to Abby) So, did you get spit on by Santa at Brookfield Square?
All: (laugh)
AS: No.
WC: So, you both have seen him at malls, but have you ever seen him in the house? Or are you both in bed?
KS: We’re in bed.
WC: Do you put cookies out for him?
AS: Sometimes I put cookies out for Santa.
KS: I put cookies and carrots out.
WC: Carrots?
KS: For the reindeer.
WC: Oh, for the reindeer.
AS: I put out cookies and milk. And then carrots, too.
WC: You put out carrots, too? You people are strange.
All: (laugh)
KS: Well, some reindeer need food to eat.
WC: That’s true. Who is your favorite reindeer?
AS: Rudolph.
WC: Good one.
KS: I don’t know.
WC: You don’t have one?
KS: No. I don’t have one.
WC: So, when Christmas morning comes, do you both wake up really early?
KS: Yeah. First I wake up my parents with my sister. She wakes up at 8:30, and then she wakes me up. And then we go in the living room. And then we wake up my mom and dad.
AS: Well, first I wake up my mom and dad, and then we go in the living room.
WC: Because you can’t open anything until your mom and dad are awake, right?
AS: Yeah.
KS: Last year they got me a portable DVD player.
WC: Your mom and dad, or Santa?
KS: My mom and dad.
WC: So you get gifts from Santa and your mom and dad?
KS: Yeah.
WC: I never did. But my mom and dad did spit on me.
All: (laugh)
WC: So do you both like the Holidays? I mean, do you like decorating and putting ornaments on the tree, and all that kind of stuff?
AS: Yeah. My birthday is in December.
WC: Really?
AS: Yeah.
KS: My birthday is four days before Valentine’s Day.
WC: Wow.
KS: And last year we had a party on Valentine’s Day. It was at Chuck E. Cheese’s.
WC: Whoa! We were just at Chuck E. Cheese two weeks ago.
AS: Last year I had my birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, too.
KS: I had a Valentine’s birthday cake.
WC: Wow. You’re lucky. (to Abby) So, Abby, your birthday is in December. When in December is it?
AS: Um... the 3rd.
WC: So your birthday is soon.
AS: Yep.
Vinnie Baggadonuts: So you get birthday gifts from your mom and dad, and then you get Christmas gifts from Santa and your mom and dad?
AS: Yeah.
VB: Does Santa get you birthday gifts?
AS: No.
All: (laugh)
WC: Does St. Nick come to your house on the night of December 5th?
AS: Yeah. Three days after my birthday.
WC: Right.
KS: Last year, St. Nick got me an Ashley doll from Mary-Kate and Ashley, and then Santa got me the Mary-Kate doll.
WC: So you had to wait three whole weeks until your Olsen collection was complete.
All: (laugh)
WC: Do you both hang stockings for St. Nick’s?
KS: Yeah. Me and Ann Marie [Katie’s older sister] take our stockings and put them on the TV cabinet doors.
WC: (to Abby) Where do you hang your stocking?
AS: Ummm... (pauses) I think I can’t remember.
WC: (laughs) That’s okay. Do you usually get only one thing from St. Nick? Or do you get candy or anything like that, too?
AS: I get three things.
KS: Yeah. Last year I got the doll and some candy and... something else.
AS: Me, too. I got a Barbie doll and some candy and... I forgot the other one. It must have been some stuff to go with the doll.
WC: What do you think Santa should bring for your mom and dad?
AS: Nothing.
All: (laugh)
KS: Well, last year, my mom got a digital camera.
BS: From who, though?
KS: I don’t know.
BS: It was from me.
KS: Oh.
WC: (laughs) Give credit where credit is due. What do your parents want? Or what do they deserve?
KS: My dad wants the second season of Buffy... on DVD.
AS: I don’t really know.
All: (laugh)
KS: And my mom wants a CD player for her car.
AS: I want a CD player for my car with earphones.
WC: You want a CD player for your car? You have a car? How old are you?
AS: I’m going to be six.
KS: I’m going to be seven.
AS: I’m going to be six in, like, two weeks.
WC: One week, actually.
BS: One week from today.
WC: Right. So, if Santa happens to read this interview before he comes to your house on Christmas, what do you want to tell him?
KS: Ah... thank you?
WC: Thank you for what?
KS: Presents.
WC: For all the presents in the past?
All: (laugh)
WC: Don’t you have anything you want to say to him?
KS: I sent him six letters already!
WC: Oh, you sent him letters in the mail?
KS: Yeah.
VB: Don’t you just email him?
KS: No. I know his address.
WC: What is it?
KS: 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole, Arctic Circle.
WC: That’s right. Very good. (to Abby) Do you want to say anything to Santa?
AS: (pauses) Ummm... toys?
All: (laugh)
WC: Have you both been good this year?
AS: Yes.
KS: Yeah.
WC: What have you done that’s good? Anyone can say they were good.
KS: I’m not telling you.
All: (laugh)
WC: Then it must be a lie.
KS: I don’t lie.
WC: So you did good things, but you don’t know what you did?
BS: Were you always good? No notes home from the teacher? No getting yelled at by your parents?
[NEITHER KATIE NOR ABBY SAY ANYTHING]
All: (laugh)
WC: I guess that’s a no. Well, that’s about it, guys. Thanks for doing this interview with me.
BS: What about that famous question?
WC: Oh, yeah. Do dogs have lips?
[BOTH KATIE AND ABBY JUST STARE AT WAYNE WITH A CONFUSED LOOK ON THEIR FACE]
All: (laugh)
WC: I’m serious. Do you think dogs have lips?
AS: I think they do.
KS: I have a dog book from my school’s library. I’ll go get it.
[KATIE GETS HER LIBRARY BOOK]
AS: (looking through the book with Katie) Oh, I see lips.
WC: Yeah. That’s a lip.
KS: Where? I don’t see any lips.
AS: (pointing) There. It’s purple.
KS: (shocked) Oh my God! That’s a lip?!?
All: (laugh)
KS: It does not look like a lip.
VB: I’m with you. I don’t think they have lips.
KS: Well, I think they have lips. But I don’t like it having purple lips.
All: (laugh)
artid
2859
Old Image
7_4_everyday.jpg
issue
vol 7 - issue 04 (dec 2004)
section
everyday people