With the Patience of a Saint (Nick) : THE GIFT WRAPPER : December is a Month of Lines
By the thousands we come, bearing boxes that must be gift-wrapped, buying trees that must be perfect, and scrounging for carts that all seem to be occupied.
It is the time of year when shoppers test the patience of the holiday work force--when we make demands that would cause Jolly Old St. Nick to grumble.
But out there among the ceaseless carols and flocked window displays is a hardy breed of worker who, despite the holiday madness, wants only to see us happy: among them, Martin Ortega, a gift-wrap department supervisor; Virgil Fadenrecht, a Christmas tree salesman; and Dagan Wallace, a shopping cart rounder-upper.
*
These are the times that try gift wrappers’ souls.
One customer needs 16 presents wrapped separately--and right now. Another forgot her claim check. Another says crankily: “I’ve been waiting over an hour. You’re positive all the items are in one box? Are you sure?”
But none of this--not the man who wants the extra-fluffy bow, not the woman who demands yards of extra tissue paper--seems to faze Martin Ortega, who this time of year heads the gift wrap department at Bullock’s at the Sherman Oaks Fashion Plaza.
He oversees nine other workers who box, wrap, tape and tie several hundred gifts a day.
He’s also the one who sometimes gets the brunt of shoppers’ frustrations, especially when he explains that there’s a 45-minute wait or that custom wrap costs extra.
Ortega will tell you that 96% of his customers are nice, reasonable people. And the remaining 4%?
“Usually when they’re really upset it’s because Hanukkah starts tomorrow and they have 23 gifts that they just bought today. One lady had been shopping all day and had to go back to dialysis. I can understand that. So I said, ‘We can deliver these to your house.’ . . . I put myself in their position. I hate waiting.”
He greets customers with a cheery, “Thank you for being patient,” which usually takes the sting out of standing in a line that can be six or seven deep.
“December is a month of lines,” says the 43-year-old. “If I see some people who are stressed already or not in a good mood, I’ll try to do a little extra. . . . Sometimes you can throw in an extra gift card or some ribbon and they walk away happy. That’s what I’m here for.”
Retail is the only life Ortega has known, starting in 1971 when he ventured to L.A. from Texas after high school and worked at I. Magnin. That was the first Christmas he worked in gift wrap, and it’s been that way ever since. During the year he works on the operations side--his current title is merchandise handling manager.
“Being in operations I don’t have a lot of customer contact, so this gives me the time to talk to them and I enjoy it,” he says. “To me this isn’t stressful. This will be over, so let’s make it as pleasant as possible for everyone and enjoy it.”
When he does have to release tension, he sings.
“When there are no customers here I sing Christmas carols,” he says, suddenly breaking into (with his own lyrics), “It’s the most beautiful time of the year.”
“It cracks everyone up. There’s no reason why we can’t enjoy things behind the scenes. I bring doughnuts and coffee and I just try to keep it up.”
Ortega rises at his Lakewood home at 3:30 a.m., is on the freeway by 5:30 and arrives at the store about 7. He wraps gifts left over from the night before, deftly creasing the paper and tying jaunty bows in a matter of seconds. He checks supplies and readies the department for the onslaught of customers. After a 12-hour day he’s back on the freeway, singing.
He tries to imagine what the holidays would be like without his stint in gift wrap.
“I would be really boring,” he says. “I think I would feel hollow. This just gets me going.”
