Exhausted at Christmas

The past few Christmases have felt very rushed and stressed. Its mostly because this is my third Christmas working retail. I've actually enjoyed the store the rest of the year. But this time of year, it gets crazy. First, you add in new employees, which is always a hassle, because there are inevitably some duds. This year that rule went to the MAX. My manager, whose only been a manager for less than a year, hired 6 new people, all under 22 maybe. Well, here we are on the last Saturday before Christmas and we are down by half. I'm telling you, these are some major duds. Not just little things like being too slow for the holiday rush or making several mistakes, but BIG things. Not showing up for work, lying, personal issues, cancer, some money has gone missing. Everything that could go wrong. And so everyone whose still employed there has been called in on their days off to make up for these three. I have to keep reminding myself that Jesus loves them. Now don't get me wrong, work is work and I need the money: granted.

But its Christmastime. This may be the last Christmas home and I've spent all of five minutes with my parents because I always work nights. Now the store hours are extended and I will be getting home tonight at midnight. I barely get to see my family at one of the best times of the year. It sucks. I told my manager that I refuse to work retail next Christmas, even if it involves me quitting my job right before the holidays! It just sucks the life out of you.

And what's worse, the store is closing. Oh yes, some people are sad. There are two kinds of people that have been walking into the store lately: people who are sad to see the store go and sorry that we're losing our jobs, and those who keep asking when the deals are going to get better. At this point I can't feel sad about the store anymore. I just can't. They've ruined that for me. We're at the point in the liquidation (everything 20 - 40% off), where they're not sending us any new merchandise. So when people come in and ask for things we usually have, but have run out of, I've gotten a lot of sighs and "okaaaay"s. Every time I can't help a customer it bums me out a little, which is more and more. Every time a customer brings up how sad the only bookstore within 50 miles that's been there for 40 years is closing, it bums me out a little. So I noticed this week that I've shut it off. I can't feel sad about those things anymore because they start to pile up and I don't want to be depressed right at Christmas.

And there's just the usual Christmastime rush. People are buying ungodly amounts of presents for everyone they know, and are late doing so. I've had so many people come in and say, "Whatever, just put it in the bag, I'm tired of shopping." I can't understand that anymore; buying for everyone you know. What are gifts? I think of gifts as giving a bit of yourself to someone else, to show you care for them. Nowadays that's been construed to purchasing an item for someone. But that's not what a gift really is. We finally convinced the Long side of the family to stop giving gifts this year. So I'm only getting gifts for Mom, Dad, Adam and Ryan, my immediate family. I think this year's going to be great. The Gliem side of the family hasn't given gifts in like a decade and no one ever even thinks about it anymore! Christmas to us is getting to see each other again, eating way too much food, reading the Christmas story and games and activities. Its just fun! But when the pressure to buy presents, not gifts, presents... for people builds up, it turns into a white elephant charade. "I got you this cause I didn't know what to get you." If you don't know what to give someone, don't get them anything! A gift is when you see or think of something that would benefit the life of someone you know, and you love them enough to sacrifice to get it for them. I don't want a puppy calender, or a singing frog band, or a Titanic music box! You weren't thinking of me when you got them for me, you felt obligated and made a guess!

THAT'S NOT CHRISTMAS!!! So to all you customers rushing into Waldenbooks today scouring the emptying shelves for some trinket that will make a person on your list's pile equal to everyone else's on the list, I say, Don't even bother. They won't remember it next year and you won't feel any better about yourself because you did.

Christmas is Jesus. If you want a good GIFT, take Jesus' example. He humbled himself to the lowest position so He could save the lives of the ones He loved. If that's not a perfect gift, I don't know what is.



And yes, those presents were things that people actually got me...