Let The Festivities Commence

Well, it’s that time of year again. The one day people look forward to year after year after year. Yes, people, tomorrow is Christmas. December 25. (for those of you in Italy…it’s today: Buon Natale a tutti!)

So why am I so excited? I don’t even celebrate Christmas. I don’t sing carols. And don’t ask me to sing Hava Nagilah. I might have to hurt you. On Christmas day I work. That’s right. It’s time and a half, baby.

As you already know, my bookstore is located in an airport. We are open 365 days a year from before sun up to well after sundown. No holiday is sacred when it comes to airport retail. I don’t mind working. It gives my fellow employees time to celebrate with their families. I work Christmas eve and Christmas day, doing two double shifts back to back. It’s exhausting but well worth the paycheck. You’ll find me at Sephora after the holidays.

There are strings attached. I MUST have Thanksgiving weekend off. It’s not a request. It’s mandatory. You don’t know my mother. She’s tough. She’s from the Bronx. Beware any employer who schedules me for Thanksgiving. She doesn’t back down. EVER. I also take Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur off from work. We have a lot of holidays. If I took off for every Jewish holiday, I’d be on an extended vacation.

So what do Jews do on Christmas day?? Nothing is open. Well almost nothing. We have Christmas traditions too. Movies and Chinese food. Hey…we invented Chinese food. You know that wonton soup? It’s really just some chicken soup with kreplach. Kreplach=Jewish wontons without the pork of course (meat instead). And lo mein? A little lochshen noodle with some vegetables thrown in for good measure.

As for working on Christmas day: you’d be surprised at the number of people flying. It’s not as busy as a regular day, but we do a brisk business. I get a lot of sympathetic comments from my customers. Oh, so sorry you have to work today etc. etc. Last year, a customer felt so sorry for me he bought me a Starbucks. Venti. Nice.

So to all my friends here and across the big pond: Merry, merry Christmas. I hope your day is filled with joy, love, laughter and song.

As for me, I think I’ll go for a little Chinese after work tomorrow. After all, a tradition is a tradition.