Who else is working?

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Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
I am sparing a thought for those people, of whom I know there are a LOT, who will be working over the next two weeks - especially Christmas day and New Years day.
I have never had a job where I have been off over the whole festive period, and it used to really wind me up when the media in particular would assume that everyone had two weeks off to play at happy families!
This year I am working as and when required, driving HGVs on agency work. So in theory I can pick and choose when I work, but in reality you have to toe the party line up to a point. I have a shift booked on Monday, and have made myself unavailable for the 25th/26th. After that, who knows. At least I won't be spending Christmas night and/or Hogmanay doing battle with drunken violent revellers sociopaths, as I had to do for two decades.
Merry Christmas to all of you who have to work! :santa:
 

arch684

Veteran
Retired firefighter so worked many christmas and new year periods but someone has to do it
 

Ganymede

Veteran
Location
Rural Kent
I am sparing a thought for those people, of whom I know there are a LOT, who will be working over the next two weeks - especially Christmas day and New Years day.
I have never had a job where I have been off over the whole festive period, and it used to really wind me up when the media in particular would assume that everyone had two weeks off to play at happy families!
This year I am working as and when required, driving HGVs on agency work. So in theory I can pick and choose when I work, but in reality you have to toe the party line up to a point. I have a shift booked on Monday, and have made myself unavailable for the 25th/26th. After that, who knows. At least I won't be spending Christmas night and/or Hogmanay doing battle with drunken violent revellers sociopaths, as I had to do for two decades.
Merry Christmas to all of you who have to work! :santa:
I used to do panto (professionally). You may laugh but it was the hardest work I've ever done. It demanded maximum energy, living in cold digs in a strange town far from your loved ones, and a maximum amount of GERMS. Dear god, we were so ill all the time. In my first job it was good for me because I was understudying both Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother and I ended up doing 6 shows as Cinders (3 days' worth) and two as Fairy God. She got food poisoning, poor woman, but with everyone else it is usually a fluey cold, on top of which you have to sing and dance. The worst is when you all go down with the winter sicks and there are buckets in the wings.

I remember once on Boxing Day morning, at my sister's house, the place full of happy loved ones having a wonderful time in the warm, getting ready to drive to Cambridge to do the traditional 2 shows. I sat in the front room and cried. Then drove off and did 2 cracking shows to packed houses, danced and sang my little heart out. At least I had Christmas Day off, and the Christmas Eve shows usually finished before 8pm. Also you can have nice colleagues and everyone tries to make it warm and hearty, though there are sometimes a few annoying or cliquey ones who everyone ignores. It was lonely though, and I'm not keen on modern pantos, so I gave it up after a few years. Playing Principal Boy was fun in theory but there were some shows when I could have just lain down in the wings and quietly died with fatigue!
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
Lab is staffed 24/7, however I'm not qualified for the general on-call work. My wife however is, and usually has to work at some point over Christmas. I'm available should there be an urgent case in my particular specialism but that's pretty rare.
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
Finish on the 23rd but am working on the 30th for one 12 hour shift, first time I'll have worked at all between christmas and new year.
 

solitaire

Über Member
Location
Cornwall
Only voluntary work at dogs home but I love it and it's my choice so It's not like proper work.
 
I had a few years in the Police and always worked Christmas/New Year, and quite enjoyed it; I think "enjoy" is the right word, it was usually busy and a whole variety of work, some of it tragic so "enjoy" maybe not the right word. Mrs Marmion had 26 years in the Police and worked as well although she was latterly CID/Domestic Abuse/Sex Offender units so didn't work all the time over the Christmas/New Year. The first Christmas after our elder daughter was born we met in a lay-by and handed her over between shifts - I was finishing and Mrs Marmion about to start :laugh:

I don't miss it. Nor do I miss the shift work.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
The people I mainly work with (Chinese) don't celebrate Christmas so they will be working as normal. They do have 2-3 days off usually for New Year. So depending on what's going on I may have to work a bit between Christmas and New Year to keep stuff ticking along.

To be honest, if the weather's too crap for cycling, after a few days at home eating and drinking and watching films, I don't mind doing a bit of work. If I don't do it then I will only have to do it later so may as well deal with it. Plus my Chinese clients don't always appreciate that Christmas = holidays
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
I work for myself a bit and a bit in the NHS, being "bank" in the NHS suits me, I just tell them what days I am not working, that includes Xmas day and Boxing day of course, oh and the 23rd, my Birthday. I work with some people who put in holiday requests for Christmas, in February, they still don't have an answer! :ohmy:
 
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