In 1968, when Philadelphia Eagles fans pelted Santa Claus with snowballs, the 19-year-old kid who dressed as Jolly Old St. Nick, took the onslaught like a champ! As frustrated as he may have been, the worst our Kris Kringle did was to tell a fan that he wouldn’t get any presents at Christmas.
And, over the next 50 years, as Philadelphia has seen its share of great mascots, even the best of ’em, the Phillie Phanatic, has taken his lumps.
But, did he doth protest? No.
However, about 120 miles northeast in Queens, where the NY Mets steal paychecks play baseball this season, their mascot, Mr. Met, has proven about as thin-skinned as an Oberlin College undergrad at a comedy club.
The other night, amidst a 7-1 shellacking from the Milwaukee Brewers, Mr. Met was caught on video giving what many describe as the middle finger to a fan. While, technically, that’s impossible because Mr. Met only has four fingers, NJ.com reports here that the person who dons the costume did lose his job after the video went viral on Twitter.
This proves yet again that just about no one — not even a second-rate mascot — has job security in the age of social media and smartphones.
And, if the experience of my readers is true to form, when the former Mr. Met goes to apply for another position — maybe, they’re hiring for the Capital City Goofball — he’ll be asked about his salary history.