Think you're stressed out during the holidays? Try being one of Santa's little helpers.

Way before social distancing was a thing, writer and humorist David Sedaris worked as a department store elf. And it turns out, being surrounded by tinsel and merriment isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Sedaris wrote about the downside of joy in Santaland Diaries, a collection of stories based on his experiences. In 1992, Sedaris — then a struggling writer -- read from Santaland Diaries on Morning Edition — and it's been a holiday tradition ever since.

Click the play button to hear Sedaris read as Crumpet the elf. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.