Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about the new "last minute".

Hey people...hope the holidays were happy and all. Now that the dust has settled, the wraps are off and the ribbons chewed by the cats, let's discuss something that's very near and dear to my heart (and my rectum)...working on Christmas Day.

As you all know, I work for a large drug store chain. This particular one has decided (for many years) to keep the store open on Christmas Day. Right off the bat, save your catcalls about this. While it may sound like I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth, well, I am. See below

Basically, if you want to work the holiday (anything from Thanksgiving-on), you sign up for it. And I don't mind working on Xmas. We do everything Christmas Eve (family-wise), and if me working Christmas Day means someone else gets to enjoy the holiday with their family instead of being pissed that they have to work, well, then that's my charitable contribution to the holiday. And besides the holiday pay (which, as a full-timer I would've gotten anyway), it's usually not that stressful of a day. There's the after-church rush and the pre-dinner rush. In between that, it's like a regular day.

See, besides gas stations, we're the only game in town. But there's three things that bug me the most about working Christmas Day.

1) We're a drug store, and its most profitable sector (the pharmacy) is closed in most stores. That means all of the pharmacy calls are redirected to people who aren't used to dealing with a closed pharmacy, and they don't realize that there are maybe four stores that have 24-hour, almost-always open pharmacies that can fill scripts that they average worker can't. I'm sorry you suffered an allergic reaction on Christmas Eve, had to go to the ER, and now need meds. Not only am I not capable of giving them to you, but that corner of the joint is locked down. Only a licensed pharmacist can get back there, and 97% of them aren't doing anything else but celebrating the holidays. Feel better, or drive 20 minutes to the closest place that can actually help you.

2) Again, we're a drug store. Sure, we sell some convenience items, as well as having some decent home electronics and a nice selection of common groceries. I've worked enough holidays that I'm over the whole "Sorry you have to work on Christmas" (see above about why, again) that I don't just retort "Sorry you feel the need to shop on a major holiday" anymore. What kills me the most are the stupid questions, and really, while I get stupid questions every day, it's the holidays that seem to make people just that much more flaccid in the brain functionality department. "Do you sell microwaves?" No, we're not Target. "Do you have satellite radios?" No, we're not Best Buy. But my favorite had to be not a question, but a statement. "Tell me where you keep the horseradish." Excuse me? You're saying this like you know we've got it, and we sell it like it's milk. We're not Tops or Wegmans. We're not the friggin' Broadway Market. It's not even Easter. Why would one even assume we have horseradish? This baffles me.

3) We counted 10 people coming through the doors as we opened at 9am Christmas Day. That probably doesn't include the people who showed up at our normal opening time of 8am, and then tucked their tails between their legs after doing jumping jacks in front of the door sensors in hopes that they'd open magically with nobody in the building. And those facts alone don't even bother me anymore. What sent me trippin' even more was the astonishing amount of teens and twenty-somethings that came in for their "last minute" gifts, cards and gift cards. Even more astonishing was the amount of senior citizens that came in. Don't you remember what it was like when you were my age? NOTHING was open on Christmas Day. NOTHING. If you needed gas, tape, milk, sugar, whatever, you got it before the stores closed for the holidays or you were plain shit out of luck. "Last minute" meant the day before Christmas Eve. Maybe Christmas Eve...I know I was that guy hitting the mall an hour before it closed on Christmas Eve, in a drunken haze after work celebrations where little-to-no work was done, getting those last-minute gifts...because I didn't have the luxury of having anywhere to shop on Christmas Day. Perhaps it's how I remember growing up (and I'm not all that old either), but like I said...you had your shit early, or you were SOL. It's crazy how pretty much one giant corporation has changed the meaning of "last minute" to "whenever you want", and exposed us volunteers to perhaps the ugliest demographic of shoppers ever. Case in point: If you're coming in to the store in pajama pants and buying baby formula and a pregnancy test, you've got bigger problems than I have with any store being open on Christmas Day. You want egg nog? Cool, as long as we still have it. Batteries? No prob. But buying any of the "wine products" we sell (for gifting purposes) is an indictment on your gift-giving ability, as well as the distaste you have for your friends. Buy them real wine, from a real liquor store. Or just say that you didn't have the time to shop. They'll probably respect you more for that, because our "wine products" kinda sorta pretty much suck.

(THANK GOD IT'S NOT THE CHRISTMAS) MUSICAL BREAK!!

I'm not gonna run down all of the fantastic presents justjessica1 got me, but two were top-notch.

She had to get me an iTunes card for me to get this, because there's no trusting any website that offers this as a download, and I haven't actually seen the dvd in stores. Radiohead's The King Of Limbs, from the basement: It's amazing how they can recreate this stuff live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2084nQbmvk

The second is a from a band that has just been doing their thing, their way, for 20 years. To me, it's growing up with a band. The book and dvd are in transit...can't wait for those goodies!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzI8OhR0IVY

VITAL STATS:

The Sabres are rockin' the Caps 4-1 after two periods, and the 3rd is starting.

All of my gifts were fantastic. Sabres hat and retro t-shirt, some awesome music, and nice little things. Plus work pants, which were much needed. And luckily, the ladyfriend appreciated the kitcheny-stuff she wanted.

Lots of laptop issues today...possibly due to the holiday and me not touching it the last few days while it was still on. Should've shut it down, but I didn't realize it was on for that long. I blame Tebow...and the dirty taps at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Clean them lines out!!

That's all for tonight...J's son is here to finish cleaning up their side of the basement to make room for the best tv in the house. I'll be down from internet access for a little bit....hopefully not for long. I'll just pay some attention to the Sabres game and get a decent night of sleep. My best to you all....GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bedgFDOpxEs