Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night..

Christmas is an odd time of year, and not just because its my birthday.

Its the time of the year when some of the best, and some of the worst comes out in people. Where the spirit of giving and charity come out, where we think of those who are less fortunate than ourselves, were we gather together with our friends, coworkers, and our loved ones and occasionally our (not so) loved ones. Christmas is a time of the year when we should reflect on what we are thankful for. In the midst of all the peace on earth and good will towards all men it is (sadly) also a time of the year when some assholes come crawling out of the woodwork.

Any one who has ever worked in retail understands exactly what I mean.

This year I volunteered to work though the holidays, and for the most part my customers were happy, appreciative of my efforts, and lovely to deal with.

There were some odd exceptions.

There was a gentleman this afternoon who was in a bit of a mood. He was snapping about something or other, and my response was to be as cheerful as I possibly could and I told him to have a wonderful Christmas. He stopped, came back to the counter and asked me pointedly "Did you say to have a Merry Christmas?"

"Er... yeah."

He went on to say that he was sure that it was company policy that we could not say "Merry Christmas" and that at every other Starbucks he had been too he had been told to have a "Happy Holliday" and the "political correctness" of it pissed him off. He always made a point of saying "Merry Christmas" back at someone’s "happy holidays". He was quite pleased by my "Merry Christmas".

I thought it was a really silly thing to get your shorts in a knot over.

I plastered a big smile on my face and nodded and smiled.

Later that evening we had a charming young lady who demanded to know why were closing so early. I tentatively said,
"Er... because it's Christmas Eve?"

She muttered something I wont repeat here.

My co-worker had many words for this young lady after she left the store. Some to do with her questionable parentage, her attitude, and the fact that she clearly had no concept that we had lives and families to get too.

I told my co-worker that this was not worth getting upset over. I was particularly surprised, as to my knowledge my coworker had no family in Toronto and is currently between relationships.

Earlier this week I have experienced some of the more "Peace on Earth" kind of Christmas cheer. On Friday night, the Haggis and I went to a friend’s house. There were vast amounts of food, reminiscing, and many hugs all round. All of the gifts that were exchanged that night were hand made.

And while I was impressed with my un-commercial non-consumer Christmas the next day I was treated to a delightful great dollop of consumer-y goodness. On Saturday I was surprised by Santa arriving quite early and providing me with something I had been wanting for school quite some time. A number of my friends, and the Haggis got together to get me a really nice, really smoking laptop.

Dear God, I was quite shocked. It is a lovely toy that I must explore at length soon, but so much lovelier are the wonderful friends who plotted together to make this happen. Time, effort and many emails were no doubt sacrificed in this effort and I am so thankful for that effort.

Oh my.

I feel sorry for that young woman who needed a coffee shop to be open later than 6pm of Christmas Eve. Perhaps she had not family or friends to go home too.

I'm glad I do.