Merry Christmas to you and yours from us and ours. As we here at NonDoc take the day off to spend time with family, we ask that you consider all of those who will be working today.
The list of Christmas workers is longer than you — or we — might have imagined. Emergency responders like law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs and dispatchers come to mind, as do doctors, nurses and all other staff at hospitals.
But the list of people working at some point on Christmas is even bigger than that. Think transportation — airlines, taxi cabs, even Uber drivers — and think service: chefs, servers, bartenders and more. Select retail stores will be open late, and even television journalists and radio DJs have to put in hours on Christmas.
And we are surefly forgetting several other professions who also must toil on the holidays.
In all, a great number of people do not get any given holiday off. So with the spirit of Christmas, we should remember those who do not have the luxury of extra time off that many Americans are afforded.
As more companies exist in the digital 24/7 age, fewer employees are able to take substantial vacation time, even over holidays. With Christmas 2017 falling on a Monday, many people worked a full week ahead of the annual holiday, and many others will return to their jobs first thing Tuesday.
But for first responders, transportation professionals and service industry professionals, having to work at least part of Christmas is often nothing new. Many working Americans are used to grinding every holiday, and it’s imperative for the rest of us to recognize their professional challenges.
Not only can doing so make you more thankful in your own life, but it can make you more empathetic to the plight of other workers.
RELATED
Fast times in food service: booze, excess and stress by Danny Marroquin
