Some people are just soooo depraved...

Just finished pictures with the Easter Bunny today, hallelujah. Whenever I work with either the Bunny or Santa, I see a side of human nature that makes me shake my head in disbelief. Read on if you don't mind learning about human depravity!

I think people forget the reason why they do these things... it's for the children, right? And if there's a nice picture, bonus. As a company, we do it to make money, no bones about it. And if we didn't make money, no more Easter Bunny/Santa.

But I've had perfectly sane-looking people come up to me with their children, and do something that just astounds me. When I tell them nicely that if they're not purchasing our pictures, we ask them not to take any pictures with their cameras, these women (and some men) will say, "Well, I'm taking them anyway. I waited 30 minutes." And then proceed to take pictures with their own cameras as I stand there.

Granted, these bad apples are few and far between, thank heavens. But the fact that they're out there makes me wonder what in the world is going through their mind when they do it. How can that be worth it? They get a picture of their child knowing that they were dishonest and... frankly, mean about it. It's the meanness of character that gets to me.

I told one woman (nicely) that it's just like going into a store and stealing, because taking pictures is what WE do, and the picture is our product that we sell. Didn't faze her one bit, she just kept snapping away. There's really nothing we can do about it, because we don't want to ruin it for the children, who are witnessing (innocently) their parent's lack of a moral base.

Our company policy is actually for no camera devices to be allowed on the set, which makes more sense to me because then there's no opportunity to cheat. I'm hoping we move more toward that policy in the future, because this part of my job is absolutely the worst. Give me a screaming two-year-old over a dishonest parent anytime.

When Santa used to be a mall promotion to get people to come, the malls used to provide the Santas, the film, the camera, and gave the pictures away because they were trying to get people to shop at their mall.

Gradually, they started charging for the pictures, and now, it's a professional studio with the lighting, digital cameras, and heavy-duty printers. Only it's better than a studio, because we have a real, live Santa or Easter Bunny! But a studio would never say "Yes, you can take pictures with your camera as long as you buy something." Yet we say that every day to people. No wonder they think we should just let them take their own photos! That policy needs to change to "I'm sorry, no camera devices are allowed." Period.

But it takes training and re-training employees and customers, and it's a process. We hardly ever have people coming up anymore saying, "Oh, they let us just take pictures last year!" with a wide-eyed, innocent look. They know not to try that because it hasn't been allowed for many years.

Another scam that we've been seeing is, "Oh, I don't know what package to get." Then they allow me to bust my butt and take really nice pictures of their kids (while they're snapping away with their expensive DSLR), and then have the nerve to say, "No, I don't want to buy any pictures today."

Ugh. If Christ hadn't died for EVERY SINGLE ONE of these people, I would be totally disgusted by them. As it is, I see that if not for Him, I might be just like them (Lord help me, that was hard to type). Only Christ can redeem these, and despite what I think, they ARE totally redeemable. Too bad they've apparently walked away from the priceless gift that He's holding out to them.

I hope you know what that gift is and how it can change your life, like it's changed mine. In fact, thinking about what Christ has given up for me and what He paid for ME to be redeemed is making me feel better. It's taking that ugly, heavy feeling off my chest from thinking about the bad deeds I've seen this Easter season.

Tomorrow we celebrate Christ's resurrection. He's the only One with an empty tomb because He's alive today. He died on Friday for me - and for you - because the penalty for sin is death. I didn't have to die for my sins (ALL of them) because Christ died for them.

I accepted Christ's gift - He saved me from a death I totally deserved. He died the most awful, painful, humiliating death that man could conceive, and He did it for me, for you, for everyone on this planet.

Do you think Jesus was just a great teacher? Is He just another religious leader to you? I challenge you to really read the Bible and see what He was, and is.

We aren't happy about Easter Sunday because it's all about the Bunny. Because it's not. And all those people I wrote about need Christ, but no more than I did at one time. Do you need Him?