Thanking those who work during the holidays

We’re only a few weeks away from Christmas and with that comes family, friends, gifts, good food and much more. For many, it’s a time to unwind and enjoy a few days off of work. For others, its a time for even more places to go and events to attend than a normal week. And yet for others, it’s a time where they aren’t afforded the opportunity to spend a day off with their families. Farmers, milk truck drivers, police officers, health care workers, first responders, pastors and others are all putting off celebrating with their families in order to keep the world turning.

Out of high school, Nathaniel and I both worked for Coca-Cola as merchandisers. We stocked the grocery stores full of soda, Powerade and other drinks and that usually meant we were even busier during holidays than during a “normal” week. With parties being thrown, there were times where we would have to make one run through the store in the morning and then head back during the afternoon hours to ensure the shelves weren’t wiped out.

Granted, that was mostly during the summer holidays like Memorial Day weekend, Fourth of July weekend and Labor Day weekend.

I remember spending a Thanksgiving morning stocking shelves at stores in Wausau before they closed that afternoon and then heading to eat dinner with family and heading to sleep soon after because I had to be up and at ‘em early to keep shelves stocked during Black Friday sales.

As you can imagine, I tried as much as I could to stay out of Walmart or Target because of the craziness of those Black Friday sales. However, it wasn’t always possible. That job was my favorite job up until I started working in the newspaper business because of the relationships I made with the people in those stores and the times we spent some of our holidays together at work. Anyway, I’m getting a little off topic. I’m trying to say that I have an appreciation for those that work on holidays. My wife, Kaitlyn, will spend her first Christmas since 2018 not at work as she was one of the lucky healthcare workers that worked every weekend no matter if it fell on a holiday or not. Don’t tell her I said this but I kind of enjoyed it because then I could watch the Christmas-day sports slate which usually includes NBA games and college football. Christmas Day together will be a wonderful experience but we will certainly need to iron out what our traditions on that day will look like moving forward.

I hope everyone, including those who work, get at least some time with their loved ones this holiday season.

Speeding

Through

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