Going to the movies on Christmas or other big holidays makes you an asshole.

The BBQ Pit
101

As I was reading the rest of the thread this came to mind - and then I saw your post. It really is true.

In a relationship with two people, you’ve two different sides of the family. Not all of these people are going pile into a house on one day. My brother and his wife split the days - her side is Christmas Eve, his side is Christmas day.

In fact, a funny story. My aunt didn’t get a chance to see my mother on Christmas last year. It wasn’t until around late March they - and several other people - met for Christmas. They went to a restaurant in the States and had a great, late Christmas. Of course they were exchanging gifts and acting all Christmasey.

At one point the waiter asked who’s birthday is was. My aunt said “Jesus. We’re Canadian. Today is Canadian Christmas.” She continued with him and when the waiter left the table he was convinced Christmas in Canada was observed in March.

This left the family with a great Christmas memory (and continuing talks about Canadian Jesus) even though it happened 3 months late.

Not me. In fact, if I worked for hourly wage, I’d welcome it. I’m asked to do the same job I always do for time and a half or doubletime? Where do I sign up?

At the end of the day Christmas means squat to me. And, like the story above, holiday is what you make of it. The date is secondary.

Yup.

If the company I work for decided to make me work on Christmas at the risk of losing my job because they thought they could make a few more dollars I would be totally completely cool with it.

That’s how it is on every other day princess. They expect you to work on a particular day, if you cant do it, you risk losing your job.

Nope.

But you know what I would pit? Some spolied twit who worked for me who refused to work on Christmas and then quit when I said they had to, which would force me to put one of the other workers on Christmas who I previously scheduled to be off that day - thus messing up THEIR plans.

That would piss me off.

Sure, why not. People have to work and work needs to be done. Sometimes that falls on July 9th, June 13th and gasp December 25th.

I know you’re saying this to make a point, but do you realize how stupid this makes you sound? You start your post out with the following…

So yes, in your case it is a character flaw. You don’t give a shit about your work and don’t have a problem quitting unless you get your way. Because of this your resume would end up with a bunch of crappy jobs which you only worked, tops, one year. If you came to me for a job, I’d see a trend developing if all your jobs listed the last month working being in December. Considering I’d need people to work in December, and December might be a hard time to fill a needed slot, I dont think I’d hire you.

Not to mention your references might tell me you were scheduled to work one day, you wanted to do something else, so instead of working around it or coming up with other plans, you quit.

And you wonder why you end up working minimum wage jobs? I’ll tell you princess, it’s because you have to put in your time like the rest of us. Very few of us STARTED work at $80k a year. We started at crap jobs, built the resume, and got progressively better jobs. You work your way up the ladder and soon you don’t HAVE to work holiday.

That’s how it works.

That’s not always true. Several of my low-pay, any-monkey-could-do type jobs Boss gave everyone the option. If no one stepped up, it was luck of the draw. Sometimes just the new people worked holiday because all the others worked it last year.

Well, if you managed to hold a job for more than one year you’d notice things would change. Perhaps not at THAT job, but your resume would reflect a different story on your work history.

I’m not here to tell you how to run your life. You’ve been getting what is important to you which is Christmas time with your family over working towards getting a job that pays you a decent wage or room for advancement. You make your own choices and have to live with them.

102

Oooh, I forgot! This year, the family gathered at my sister’s and brother-in-law’s place in SoCal, and on Christmas Day, some of us WENT TO DISNEYLAND for the morning! We were told it’s their most crowded day of the year!

I guess we’re ALL gonna burn in hell for these insults to the proletariat, eh?

103

Sorry, take that as a whoosh. I wrote that back when I thought the OP was prompted by religion instead of just selfish stupidity. I KNOW what your Jesus stood for, practiced and preached, he was a pretty nice guy, but to look at how a lot of Christians act nowadays, Jesus preached

"Hate your neighbors, especially if their beliefs are different"
“Hate the sin, and hate the sinner even more”
“Kill or have killed those you hate”
“Judge, and judge harshly”
“Blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit the earth and fuck over everybody else”
“Fuck the poor, hate them the most”
"Clean up after my Father’s fuckups (sorry, I don’t know what He was thinking when He created homosexuals)"

and so on. Some Christians’ Jesus was a hard-ass motherfucker, and their God even more of a bastard. I sometimes picture little baby Jesus in his manger as being like that baby in Dawn of the Dead, all snarling and ready to kill, and God as the Balrog in LOTR, hateful and smiting.

If only the Christians who look at their God as a just God, a kind God, and who take Jesus’s actual preachings to heart, ran this country. There might not even BE any poor and hungry and oppressed people. I can dream, can’t I?

Sorry I whooshed you. It was a snab at the OP, which didn’t matter anyway since apparantly he’s not religious, he’s just a fascist fuckwit.

104

Maybe you could go see a movie?

105

Please don’t start throwing your M.D. cred around for the sake of making insults. You’re too valuable a poster on these boards for that.

106

I didn’t see it as an insult, more of a statement. Like, I would also mention,that type of over the top irrationally violent response is something I see often in my clients, former prisoners.

if that wasn’t an exaggeration of your response, get help before it becomes court ordered.

107

I calls 'em as I sees 'em. It was not meant as an insult. I figured you were worth a wake-up call.

I tend to ignore most bad behavior on the board because it’s really none of my business, but when someone who’s made some decent contributions starts showing signs of trouble, I’ll on occasion point out that their behavior (not them, but their behavior) is problematic.

Y’see, in the past I benefitted greatly (in real life) when folks who had credibility with me pointed out that my actions were not that of the sort of person I wanted to be.

YMMV and all that.

108

No, it’s simple economics of supply and demand. And as many have pointed out:

  1. No one is holding a gun to anyone’s head. If Christmas has more value to you than a wage, then you can schedule the days off…it is not like you don’t know when it will happen. Plan ahead.

  2. There are many many many people who don’t give a fuck because they are not Christians.

  3. There are many businesses that rely on Christmas time for the increased revenue they earn. Because of this they can afford to keep people hired during slower parts of the year. My friend has a shop that does more business on his high season day (Halloween) than he does for some months during the rest of the year. That one big day he makes the profit for the whole year sometimes. I am sure there are businessess that do the same over Christmas.

even sven: what Seven said. Plus, I am a white-collar boss and I work weekday Christmas’ because it is quiet and I can get a lot of work done! We do the family stuff on the nearest weekend to the 25th.

VCO3 Let me get this straight: You went to an interview for a job…and the manager, being honest and upfront BEFORE you signed any contract, told you about a policy that was equally and impartially applied to all workers…and you violently threw things on the floor…barely kept yourself from punching the person in the face…and stormed out.

Is this correct retelling of your story?

Exactly what thoughts went through your mind at that moment to cause such a violent reaction? “OH FUCK! I WANTED TO WASH DISHES/WAIT TABLES FOR THIS RESTAURANT AND YOU, YOU SLIMY SON-OF-A-WHORE, YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT, YOU TELL ME THAT I MUST NEVER TAKE MORE THEN 2 DAYS OFF? BUT I WANTED THIS JOB! THIS JOB MEANS ENOUGH TO ME THAT I AM JUST BARELY ABLE TO KEEP FROM COMMITING AGGRAVATED ASSAULT ON YOU! YOU EVIL EVIL MAN! HOW DARE YOU TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY AWAY FROM ME!”

Or, was it more cerebral? “That policy of yours shows contempt for the needs of college students in the area. These students, these bastions of self-improvement and foresight, are forced to adhere to your vacation policy? Have you no respect for the needs of these poor souls? These fine people who will one day be the leaders of our country? Doctors to the sick? Lawyers of justice? Engineers of mankinds greatest accomplishments? Do you not know what these individuals need? They NEED 3 days off! And you are opposed to that! You are hurting the future of MANKIND with that policy! I should bash you for that! I should break your jaw for spitting on the future of humanity! But I, I shall take the higher ground and simply cast your papers, your records, your pencils of imprisonment to the earth. And as I leave, know this: I shall not eat here again.”

Or is there another thought process that was going on that would not lead us to think that you should seek professional help? Because if you can’t handle someone telling you the truth before you make a decision, then you are in for a big fucking surprise in the real world buddy. If you go attacking people for upholding company policies that you don’t agree with, then yeah, you are a nutjob.

I love how your posts have gone from caring for the workers to attacking them physically.

-Tcat

109

In other words, you’re lazy and undependable.

See, most people work hard and put in a lot of effort to better themselves. Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be a stepping stone; you work hard, work shitty hours, and develop experience and skills. If it’s not a job with any chance of advancement, then you work even harder and go to school on the side.

Most people in service jobs are at least dependable enough to share in the shitty shifts. You chose to quit and dump the shitty shifts on your coworkers, who probably concluded you were a selfish jerk. I’ve worked holidays. Most people work holidays at one point or another. If you don’t like it, find another job, or work extra shifts some other time.

Why, Princess, is it so important you get all holidays off, but people driving tow trucks, working in the NOC centers that keep your Internet working, or working in factories have to provide you with goods and services? **You aren’t special. ** You aren’t better than anyone else. You aren’t different. We all work holidays. If you don’t want to, great, it’s a free country. But you just won’t have as many job opportunities, will ya? And someone with a better work ethic will. My, how the free market system solves problems.

110

The OP has posted the most idiotic opinion I’ve yet to see here.

I spent 5 years working the flightline at Anchorage International. LOVED the holidays and would gladly take any holiday shift anyone wanted to unload. Mega overtime. Prior to that, had also worked other jobs where holiday work meant at least time and a half, would always say “Yes” if asked. As a single mom, the extra money always came in handy, and I still had the afternoon and evening to spend with my daughter, mom, and sis.

I’m probably totally wasting my “breath” but…

See, minimum wage and unskilled jobs are the starting rung. They aren’t intended to be anyone’s “have to work or can’t support myself” career choices. They’re the training wheels of your work/career lifestyle. And as such, they often entail unpleasant duties, such as waiting tables, low pay and not-so-great schedules. There are too many other things to even begin to list, other than people choosing to spend some family time seeing a movie on a holiday, that make minimum wage jobs not-so-hot (you probably haven’t thought of this, but many people may only be a few rungs up the ladder from minimum wage and holidays may be one of the few times they have to spend some fun going OUT time with their families since they’ve got a paid day off).

111

Ahhhh, The Christmas Nazi, every family has one, and the rest of the family thinks they are a huge asshole.

112

That is fucking hilarious and I intend to use it or something similar at earliest opportunity.

113

Hi. I work in a theater.

I worked Christmas day. I didn’t mind.

If any of our employees didn’t want to work Christmas, it wasn’t too big a deal to get off. Most of them did, though. Closed early on Christmas eve and opened late on Christmas day, so anyone who wanted to spend time with family had at least Christmas morning to do it. And it’s not a huge secret that the theater’s open Christmas day. In fact, we usually make it a point to let new hires know that we’re open 365 days a year.

Just thought I’d give an opinion from someone who’s been there.

114

It was closer to your “cerebral” choice, though without the self-righteousness and all of that. It was this - “This is a college town in the middle of nowhere in a rural area, where there are very few jobs to go around. Literally everyone you employ is a student, yet you have the audacity to enforce an unreasonable policy such as this because you know you can get away with it because there are no other jobs open anywhere else. Because everyone you employ is a student, and because this is in the middle of nowhere, you’re keeping them from ever (as long as they want to have a job) being able to go home to see their families. You are a fat asshole, you smug piece of garbage.”

I can’t stand this predatory, exploitative attitude in any person, but especially a smug fuck that knows he can get away with it. We need more people to extend the bounds of social censure to direct, uncomfortable confrontation - like if I had pushed the guy or gotten in his face and told him what an asshole he (knew he) was being - rather than just quite, politely complicit avoidance.

115

Yes. That would definitely make things much better. You’re right.

You ought to be careful. You’re starting to sound like the subject of This thread. Want to try answering my questions upthread?

116

Nope. This isn’t a debate.

117

So you’re an idiot, and you don’t care. Ok, guy. Whatever works for you.

118

It is now. Care to try to explain yourself without resorting to callling us all assholes?

119

Who, in this thread, has shown that sort of attitude or belief?

Stating “this is what a minimum wage job entails” does NOT then equal "and therefore people working minimum wage jobs are worthless and “deserve” what they get.

As many people have already stated here, for me? I’d be delighted. I do love overtime. I have DONE the minimum wage job thing. And some of the things that I had to do, under pain of losing my job, just sucked.

No, then I would think that the company that forced that upon their employees sucked. I certainly wouldn’t then turn around and call the customers of that company assholes.

The issue is that some companies have poor policies concerning treatment of their employees. That IS wrong on their part, but has little to nothing to do with customers and their buying habits.

Again, the issue is those company’s bad treatment of their employees. That is something that they needed to fix, that they practiced that bad treatment regarding “having” to work at Christmas is a symptom of bad management. It’s not the customers doing.

Well, yes it IS a crappy way to make a living. But minimum wage wasn’t ever intended to BE a living. It’s the starting point, not a career.

There are a lot of things in this world that “should” happen. A lot of them aren’t realistically possible. Again, crappy schedules are part of what makes a minimum wage job, a minimum wage job. It come with the territory. And no, that doesn’t mean that the workers deserve it.

And how on earth would consumers know, merely by patronizing an establishment, how they treat their employees?

Not to mention, you could take that globally…Should we not support ANY company if we don’t like the way they treat their employees, minimum wage or not? I can think of a few clients of mine I’d like to drop.

120

I can see the OP’s point, and the comments from a lot of the posters in this thread have caused me to raise my eyebrows quite extensively.

It must be a cultural thing, because in this part of the world it’s generally accepted that everyone should have Christmas Day off (excepting essential services, of course). Even if you’re not Christian, it’s still seen as The One Day A Year Which Everyone Can Stay Home From Work.

Most (all?) retail establishments are closed for the day here, and everyone who is working will generally get either massive penalty rates and/or a paid day off in lieu (depending how good your Union/State Award is).

Often, places like Movie Theatres will start with the Matinee Session rather than the 9am one, too.

I do, however, agree with the idea that there are certain days of the year in which it is not really necessary to be purchasing designer clothing/appliances/DVDs/motor vehicles, going to the supermarket, or getting your film developed.

On the other hand, actually trying to reach a consensus on which days those should be will probably be the catalyst for the events leading up to The Postman and A Canticle For Leibowitz…