HOW CAN ANYBODY WORK ON CHRISTMAS DAY?

How many times have you worked on Christmas Day?  Be honest.  You're in safe company.  If you have never worked on Christmas Day in your entire life, it's OK to admit it.  I have to admit that it's  not any easy one to work.  I have done it often.  Those of you who know me, know why, and when.  But besides that, there were other times for other reasons that I worked on Christmas day.  I have to say that it is not as bad as it sounds on the surface.  However, when given the opportunity to exercise my "druthers",  I always "druthered" to take the holiday from work.
I have to say that for me it was always a matter of rearranging the schedule.  This is a later phenomenon, but the practice was nothing knew to me.  I grew up in a family for whom Christmas Day itself was for people who were not of my culture.  (Franco-American.   Some of us did sneak across the border from Canada.  Only, we waited for the river to freeze over so that we could drive across.  I actually came to know children of some people who had done that.)  For our family, (We were, and are, all documented.) Christmas was at its frenetic and most enjoyable moment from about 9:00 PM on 12/24 to about 3:00 AM on 12/25.  Leading up to 9:00 PM was not easy, but then after that it got real crazy.  We had to start getting ready for Midnight Mass (We're Catholic), we had to get all the party stuff organized for the Post Mass celebration, "Reveillon" in French.  Mass was out by about 1:20 or so.  Then home to the partying with what appeared to be 100 people.  That lasted until at least three, and in a good year, 5:00.  Including the one when my uncle lit a match with a Red Ryder BB gun at about 15 feet.  I am NOT making this up.  There are independent witnesses who are still alive and Alzheimer's - free who could attest to it.
I tell you this because I have to make the point that I grew up with a Christmas schedule that was always a mystery to my non Franco-American friends.  So when I grew up and suddenly was confronted with the reality of having to work on holidays, changing the celebratory times around was not a large hurdle for me to clear.  Oh, believe me, it is not as easy as it seems in the telling of it, but it is not the end of the world.
After all, God works on holidays.  I have been told that He even works on Sundays.  I wonder if  He works on Saturdays, too.  My feeling is, if He can do it, I can too, if I have to.
Back when I was growing up in Massachusetts, no one worked on Christmas.  In fact, the only ones who worked on Sunday were police and firemen (no, women were not firemen, and all firefighters were men).  Oh, yes, we had heard that there were some female police officers in case some females happened to get arrested and needed to be searched.  I remember, we did know about that.  But, no business was conducted on Sunday, by anybody except the Church.  These days, everybody BUT the Church does business on Sunday.
One last thing before I leave you.  The way thins are organized these days, I'll bet more people have a grumpier attitude about working 12/26 than on 12/25.  Ya with me on that one?  Ha, I knew you would be.
See you tomorrow.