I live in the UK. Not much is open on Christmas Day here. Definitely not grocery stores (and no-one starves. That’s what two weeks of food purchasing beforehand are for). However a lot of pubs are open, because they are considered essential.
News organizations still broadcast on Christmas Day… but the announcers are often substitutes. It would not be surprising if many of the substitutes were non-Christian.
Plus- many jobs are just an 8 hour shift, people work around schedules for presents and dinners. Santa always arrived Xmas eve at our house, while we were out seeing the lights (and it took my mom forever to get out to the car). That meant the parents could sleep in until time to get ready for church. Just like at Thanksgiving, the main meal can be early or late to accommodate schedules. Indian H and the Jewish partner often took Xmas calls- when they divided up the “winter holidays” they had fewer of the other ones.
My D. has to work Christmas Eve. At least it is not a 30 hour shift, she is done plenty of those. Christmas Eve will be a normal day until 5pm (she hopes for 5pm!), so no complaints! She knows that some are working 30 hours on the hospital floors during holidays, somebody got to be there, there is no break in people getting sick!
I do not understand the comment “The fact that retail employees are forced to work holidays makes me sick.”, I do not get it at all!. Nobody reads the contracts when they get hired? You sign the contract and you get paid for it. I was working thru all of my end of year holidays last year because I was on a hot project. I was sitting in front of computer sometime until midnight and later. We had to cancel our usual trip to NYC to see my S’s family there! One got to do whatever it takes to keep a job…or exercise your veto power by looking for another job. Nobody is forcing anybody to work at a certain place. There are plenty of places that would be happy to have a great employee, if it is you or the next person in line, you are the only one who can decide!
I believe they’re talking about rank and file employees, not management. I don’t know of any major retailer that employs clerks and cashiers under contract. You show up when they tell you or you don’t get paid. Some retail employees count on the extra pay they earn by working holidays to cover their own holiday expenses, so although I’m not a fan of forcing people to work I wouldn’t want to interfere with their opportunity to do so. I can’t bring myself to shop on holidays, but I’ve used gas stations and convenience stores on my way to the TV station on those that I’ve been scheduled to work.
Well, this Chiratmas, I am hours away from home with my H, who has just had open heart surgery. For me, it’s not just the hospital staff, but everybody working to keep the hotel functioning who I consider essential, and I am grateful for any place that will be open on the holiday itself so I can find food, get gas for the car, pick up anything I’m told to bring for H.
It seems a bit silly to me to argue about whether or not businesses should or shouldn’t be open. Some are. Some aren’t.
Oh, @ordinarylives, best wishes to you and DH. You put some of this in a needed perspective. Hugs.
On Thanksgiving, I volunteered at a med facility and will be there again tomorrow afternoon. We can get bent out of shape about retail, but there are many ways people do for others. It’s just not all me and mine, gifts and meals at the exact time you like.
OP’s comment was about her son, experiencing this for the first time.
@ordinarylives best wishes to you and your H, especially for a happy and healthy New Year!
My close friend’s H will be under going surgery tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and I am so thankful she and you will have places to go, close to the hospital for whatever you might need while your loved ones are ill.
Here’s hoping for a brighter 2016 
Thanks @lookingforward
My intention was to share my bemusement with my son-- who was amazed that he has to work until 6 pm on Christmas Eve. With teachers as parents, this is not a possibility that he had ever considered, that’s all.
Christmas is a holiday; Christmas Eve, while a big deal to some-- including my family- is not a holiday. I’m absolutely OK with him working in a supermarket until 6 pm on Christmas Eve. Not everyone has the luxury of today off to prepare for Christmas Eve.
Be glad that there are non Christian people for whom Christmas day is not anything special.
Semi related… Remember the 2009 Christmas day underwear bomb attempt? He was probably trying to blow up a plane load of Muslims.
Interesting take on that incident.
@Booajo: We’ve spent a couple of Christmas and New Year’s Eve nights in the hospital over the years, and it feels ridiculous to us, or surreal, or dizzying or something. Always some unexpected thing that found us in the emergency room.
We’ve finally hit a stretch where we seem to be without incident.
We were grateful the medical staff was there, yes.
re #49- he was more likely to get Hindus, Jews and atheists! Add any others you wish.
The OP had a great post- and it unleashed many feelings and experiences from the rest of us. Teens are on the brink of adulthood- experiences like having to work like this help with the maturing process.
True. But also consider the plane’s destination of Detroit, whose metro area appears to have a relatively high Muslim population.
Not quite the same thing, but I still remember feeling a little sorry for myself at 16, going to work the day after Christmas. What? Over break? Felt way too adult, too soon.
Just added that to say anyone not Christian. Sometimes people forget the whole country is not Christian, despite its dominance in our culture.
@bjkmom: so… what did your son say?
Working Christmas Eve, not having “summer vacation”… those are all important steps, moments of recognition that one has left childhood. Now, he’s over the hill!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
@ordinarylives: my wishes go to you and your husband. Celebrations in other cultures take place on January 1st or 6th, so hopefully he’ll feel well enough then, who’s to say they can be on the 25th only? In the meanwhile, wishes of well-being, comfort, and caring to you and your family.
I have lived for years in countries that do not celebrate Christmas. It was very handy yesterday (Christmas morning) when I realized that I forgot to buy breadcrumbs that I could run to the neighborhood grocery store and buy the breadcrumbs (used by Asians for coating and deep frying) that I needed for the topping of my veggie dish. In contrast, EVERYTHING, except for maybe hospitals, will be closed on New Year’s day and a few after.
Well, he survived.
He worked Christmas Eve, got off at 6, and we were at my sister’s by 7.
To be honest, it was a lot less important to him-- or to us-- than the topic is to a lot of people here. Yes, he was disappointed, but that’s part of growing up. Even if he had had to work Christmas Day-- it’s a peril of choosing a job n a field that includes those demands. (My niece’s husband missed Christmas Eve this year-- he was working. My brother has missed a number of them along the way for the same reason.) Had it been a deal breaker for us, then we would have advised him to look for a part time job doing something else. But he likes this job-- it’s a 2 minute drive for him, he gets lots of hours, he likes the people he’s working with and for.
And he’s very thankful that supermarkets don’t require a Black Friday all nighter, or a Day after Christmas return marathon. He’s off today, fast asleep upstairs.
I have been responsible for mission critical systems for years. It is much easier now that we are able to work remotely, so people do not need to be in the office to do most of work. But back in the days when it was necessary to have a skeleton crew in case of emergency, I used to ask staff to take turns so people who had families far away could travel home. Most people were quite cooperative.
I worked for a very religious Jewish man for 15+ years. I attended meetings and worked on Fri and Sat on his behalf. He often told people to call me if he was not available. He let me make many decisions on my own. As a 20/30 something, it was a lot of responsibility, but I also learned a lot. I used to make fun of him that was the only reason he hired me.