Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the arrival of the holiday means a pause for many of us in a very busy season.
Schools are out for two weeks, and many businesses shut down for a week, or at least a few days. Professionals and white collar workers get a chance to put their feet up. Retail workers, exhausted from Christmas shopping crowds, will get a day to decompress before Boxing Day, when the madness starts all over again.
We’re lucky our society allows us this pause, when so many can take a restorative winter break. Especially when the days are short and many have extra errands to do for the holidays, a few days or weeks off can make all the difference.
But there are thousands in our community who will keep working through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s. And that applies to every faith’s celebrations. Hanuakkah and Ramadan, Nowruz and Lunar New Year are all holidays that involve celebration and time with family, and though they fall at various points on the calendar, they all have something in common – many people will have to miss some of that family time for work.
Vital services have to keep running. From nurses and doctors staffing our hospitals, to BC Hydro crews repairing downed lines, from firefighters and police to bus drivers and the folks who make sure the water and sewer systems keep running, to farmers with their daily chores, there is work 365 days a year. And that includes every holiday on the calendar.
There’s really no way around this, and for many working people, it’s a part of their life right through from the day they start their job until they retire. Some jobs demand being on call and away from home, so that the rest of us can enjoy our Christmas in peace, security, and warmth. It lets us rest easy knowing that if there is a turkey carving accident requiring stitches, the ER will be open and ready to help.
Almost every family will have at least one member who will spend part of their life being the one who doesn’t have enough seniority to snag that vital day off on a holiday.
Many a Christmas will be re-scheduled around when one family member can get some time off – holding the big family dinner or unwrapping presents on Dec. 23 or Boxing Day isn’t uncommon.
This Christmas and New Years, and for every major holiday in the coming year, if you’re able to gather with your whole family all at once, that’s something to be very thankful for. And while you’re doing that, give a moment of thought for those still at work.
Merry Christmas to you and yours, from the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.