# Should you feel guilty going to a restaurant on Christmas? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364 "2015-12-26T03:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/41 "2015-12-26T15:04:02Z")
Gotta be some places open for those who don’t celebrate Christmas. Every place being closed regardless of the religion of the customer base, workers, and owners would be like merging church with state. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/42 "2015-12-26T15:09:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s a fairly universal time to be with your family and friends regardless of any religious affiliation. It’s basically like the 4th of July or Memorial Day. Not really. I mean we were together as a family because we lived together and other people were busy, but it’s not like anyone in my family made any effort to be together because it was Christmas. It really was just another day. We didn’t even do the Chinese food thing growing up. And that’s ok. I had no desire to mark Christmas and never felt left out. It was just a day my non-Jewish friends were busy. One if my sisters grew up to lived in a town with a moderate Jewish population and they used to do a party that day for their friends. But it was hardly a magical, solemn day for being with family. Just a day when most people were free. Sometimes I get the vibe that Christians think we’re all wishing we could find a way to justify Christmas in our lives. Can’t speak for everyone, but most Jews I know are ok with it not being our holiday. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/43 "2015-12-26T15:15:28Z")
Christmas for me has always been just another day. I’d say that Thanksgiving is a far more universal holiday for Americans than Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/44 "2015-12-26T15:19:23Z")
I’ve worked many a holiday. And been out of town and dependent on other people working the holiday (whichever one) to feed & house me. FTR, I’m solid atheist. Having said that, I consider it my duty to avoid forcing others to work holidays insofar as possible. Christmas is just one of many such holidays. Imagine all the retail stores had their big Thanksgiving evening Black Thursday sales. And damn near nobody showed up in solidarity with the many workers who were Shanghai-ed into destroying their holiday on the latar of increased corporate sales. Wouldn’t that be awesome! And next year far fewer retailers would try that abuse of our traditions and of our people. There is more to life than corporate income. Act like it. This post rates my seldom-seen sig line. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/45 "2015-12-26T15:24:14Z")
I’m curious- do you feel bad about patronizing stores during Ramadan or Yom Kippur, knowing some folks have to work or go to school on their Holidays? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/46 "2015-12-26T15:32:21Z")
> [@Torontonian](#): > > They better start celebrating. Im an atheist and I still celebrate turkey holiday Thanksgiving was in November. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/47 "2015-12-26T15:41:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ve worked many a holiday. And been out of town and dependent on other people working the holiday (whichever one) to feed & house me. FTR, I’m solid atheist. > > Having said that, I consider it my duty to avoid forcing others to work holidays insofar as possible. Christmas is just one of many such holidays. > > Imagine all the retail stores had their big Thanksgiving evening Black Thursday sales. And damn near nobody showed up in solidarity with the many workers who were Shanghai-ed into destroying their holiday on the latar of increased corporate sales. > > Wouldn’t that be awesome! And next year far fewer retailers would try that abuse of our traditions and of our people. > > There is more to life than corporate income. Act like it. This post rates my seldom-seen sig line. Many workers are glad for the extra shift. I sure as hell know that I was when I was an hourly worker. Many of those workers in retail are immigrants that don’t celebrate “our” holiday or live away from their family and have nothing better to do and need the money. Why are people finding it so difficult to understand that a sizable minority don’t value that same things as themselves? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/48 "2015-12-26T15:43:14Z")
Maybe I’m just lucky, but with all the non-Jews around, I’ve never had to work on Yom Kippur. There’s always been someone else willing to cover. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/49 "2015-12-26T15:43:30Z")
Christmas worker here. I cashier in a store owned by Chassidic Jews, in Bergen County, NJ which still has blue laws. The laws in NJ state that nobody can make you work on Christmas. The week before, a sign up list is posted asking if you will volunteer to work Christmas Eve or Day. Working on the 25th means double pay. This is the third Christmas I have worked. I do not mind it at all, and I always have my “Xmas dinner” at the IHOP across the street, which is also open December 25th. Not everybody is a Christian and/or celebrates on he 25th. ETA: We are closed on Shabbos and all major Jewish holidays, so we are not covered by the blue laws. Meaning we can be open (and do major business) on Sunday and Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/50 "2015-12-26T15:46:17Z")
Back working in a convenience store in West Texas, we got paid double time for working Thanksgiving and I think triple time for Christmas. I always loved working the holidays. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/51 "2015-12-26T15:49:33Z")
They get triple pay in Union supermarkets in California. So many people want to work that nearly everyone gets one four hour shift. (Or at least that used to be the case. I’m not 100% positive that it’s still true.) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/52 "2015-12-26T15:54:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe I’m just lucky, but with all the non-Jews around, I’ve never had to work on Yom Kippur. There’s always been someone else willing to cover. Unfortunately my college doesn’t have the High Holidays off. When the holidays fall so they both hit my same class, I just can’t justify cancelling twice in an already short semester. If students take off I don’t hold it against them, but there’s no way I can cancel essentially a week of classes. I usually leave early, but it’s a hassle and I can almost never travel to my family for the holiday. It’s frustrating because, of course, Easter and Christmas as factored into the schedule, so those holidays are much easier for folks to observe. Passover I generally have to reschedule so I can do the Seder on a weekend, or it would be impossible to observe. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/53 "2015-12-26T16:06:03Z")
If a place is open and I need whatever they are serving I go and attempt to be the best customer they’ve had all day, in the spirit of the holiday. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/54 "2015-12-26T16:08:06Z")
> **[Jewish-American patronage of Chinese restaurants](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_Cuisine_in_American_Jewish_Culture)** > > The Jewish-American patronage of Chinese restaurants became prominent in the 20th century, especially among Jewish New Yorkers. It has received attention as a paradoxical form of assimilation by embracing an unfamiliar cuisine that eased the consumption of non-kosher foods. > Factors include the relative absence of dairy products compared to European cuisines, concern over German and Italian antisemitic regimes in the 1930s and the proximity of Jewish and Chinese immigrants to each other in New... Interesting article. The Jewish-Chinese connection goes back over 120 years to NYC. Chinese restaurants, on the whole, were unique at the time as being places where Jews could go and get different food from their own and not have to worry about discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/55 "2015-12-26T18:08:28Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s a fairly universal time to be with your family and friends regardless of any religious affiliation. It’s basically like the 4th of July or Memorial Day. That is simply not true. When I was a kid, we got together with family on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve, after work. We never did Christmas Day, because although the family had stopped being Catholic in the 60s, we kept the 24th as the social / family day. Some years we went to fireworks displays on the 4th, but most years we didn’t. I can’t recall ever marking Memorial Day in any way, shape, or form, except as a day off. I’d be happy to work on Christmas. Without kids, it’s fairly easy to move the celebration to the 26th or 27th. We’ve done Christmas in January before when that was the best for the family’s schedules. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/56 "2015-12-26T19:30:48Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It was not a tradition known to me growing up in Philadelphia but is widely known and practiced in NY. Yesterday we were invited to a holiday dinner, but might have gone to a Chinese restaurant if not. Why not? It’s known in St. Louis, too, although not to the same extent as in NY. At least, my St. Louis Jewish relatives would do the movie and Chinese food thing on Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/57 "2015-12-26T19:33:48Z")
I remember having to tell guys in my squad “If Charlie didn’t observe Tet, one of HIS holidays, what the hell makes you think he’s going to respect Christmas? Keep your fuckin’ eyes peeled!” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/58 "2015-12-26T19:35:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Imagine all the retail stores had their big Thanksgiving evening Black Thursday sales. And damn near nobody showed up in solidarity with the many workers who were Shanghai-ed into destroying their holiday on the latar of increased corporate sales. > > Wouldn’t that be awesome! Not really - as noted, some of us really do want the holiday pay. I made as much money in 2 days from the Thanksgiving/Black Friday gig as I normally do in 6 days. As I said, please do not pity me in a manner that deprives me of needed income. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/59 "2015-12-26T20:13:05Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Interesting article. The Jewish-Chinese connection goes back over 120 years to NYC. Chinese restaurants, on the whole, were unique at the time as being places where Jews could go and get different food from their own and not have to worry about discrimination. Blatant hijack: do the Chinese Americans reciprocate? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364/60 "2015-12-26T20:23:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Blatant hijack: do the Chinese Americans reciprocate? I’m not sure what you mean by that. Eat at delis? I used to do a lot of business travel in Asia. More than a few times I have had Chinese people tell me “we are brothers” when they found out I was Jewish. There are a lot of similarities in the cultures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-feel-guilty-going-to-a-restaurant-on-christmas/741364.md?page=4)