The reason I dread Christmas season is that I work through it. WOrking in retail or restaurant or any hospitality service over the holidays can be very demanding on employees and the expectation to be available with a smile and take all of the guff from the tired, impatient and frustrated public that we do and workloads bigger than usual. Christmas usually becomes nothing more than a day off work. For my two sons, they don't even get that. One works at a coffee shop which is open 24/7 including Christmas Day for people on the road. The other son works for a communications technical support crew so when Christmas gifts are opened like new tv's, laptops, iPads, cellphones, etc....Tech Support is nuts on Christmas Day with calls coming in to have internet services initialized, or tv hook-ups arranged. Since the call in rates are so high, the callers have longer wait times for a service person and the grumpier they get. Christmas Day is not a loving day for my sons.

I work in a deli and orders are coming in for food trays galore now for the season and they expect it NOW. Weather is bad and the ferry that brings produce across from the mainland to the island, cannot travel in these weather conditions so trucks line up for a couple of days and stores run out of stock waiting for supplies to get across. As a result, customers want products we cannot make for them due to shortages. They do not understand that we can't just snap fingers and make a catering tray appear in seconds. I cannot wait for the holiday season to be over.