On Nov. 30 I realized there are only 25 days until Christmas, supposedly one of the most exciting times of the year for most families.
Is it really that exciting to the person who is struggling paycheque to paycheque to make ends meet? To the student who just found out that again tuition fees are going up so secondary education is becoming only a dream? Then of course there are the homeless — forgotten — and all the other people who cannot handle this time of year. How about the girl or guy who is working in retail? Forget about spending time with family over the holidays; the retail industry offers longer shopping hours for the consumer but for the staff, well it’s work, work, work. I’ve noticed for example Sobeys is open from 6 a.m. until midnight every day. Has it come to that? We need to be in the stores that early or that late?
Christmas has lost something. It has become a money grabbing, time-to-be-rude-to-others, overworked retail employees time of year. For one minute take a look at what happens — all retail stores offer longer hours with their employees enjoying all of one day off, that being Christmas Day. That makes Christmas seem, well, sad. So how can things change? As the consumer we need to re-look at how we do our shopping. We do have power and presents are just a very small part of Christmas, aren’t they?
The stores offer the buyer all kinds of incentives to shop with sales, long hours and lots of inventory. There is a problem — these retailers cannot get enough staff to cover the hours, so maybe the retailers need to re-look at their plan and say a little less late-night shopping and maybe the poor retail worker could have two days off. What a plan! They do it in my home province; all stores close Dec. 24 and reopen Dec. 27, as it should be.
Another small thing when you are shopping this holiday season — don’t be rude. Even if you have to wait in line or the poor cashier is having troubles, they barely get trained and mostly learn on the job.
Come on folks, it’s Christmas. Instead of filling the tree with lots of gifts, enjoy the time. It is special and can be magical if you really look and listen.
Merry Christmas to everyone. I will never stop saying this as a greeting this time of year!
J. Allen, St. Albert
