Millions of people wish Happy Holidays in the months of November and December. This greeting does not reflect what most American workers feel.
While checking out at a convenience store on Interstate 80, a cashier (I call her Ms. Susan) in her late 60s or early 70s working at 2AM expressed her displeasure with my greeting “Happy Holidays”. “Happy Holidays…huh”, she exclaimed and looked at me. She mentioned she hasn’t been given a day off in months. She was working every day regardless of the day or occasion.
We rarely think of how greetings may be perceived by an individual. Ms. Susan’s words are a striking reality for most Americans.
Americans working in retail positions are rarely offered any paid days off. When you receive an Amazon package on time on December 26th, you may not readily realize that someone was working the previous day at the Amazon warehouse while you were having a day off dinner with your family listening to Christmas music. How about that Doordash food delivery order that was cooked by someone and delivered by another one?
There are people with families who are working and staring at clock so that they can go home and cook a special Christmas meal for their family. They are not necessarily first responders. We rarely thank them for providing the critical supply of goods and services when we need them the most.
Similarly, most working-class people in corporate jobs get 3 days off in 2 months: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. Three days off in 2 months barely makes it a Holiday Season. If you are not good at corporate politics and you have not earned your seniority, you will be at work on Friday following Thanksgiving Thursday even though you may have vacation days available. Speaking of vacation days, most Americans barely get 1-2 weeks off in the entire year. And even on those days, it is expected to keep checking your work email every hour, reply to texts, Like & Share the posts of your company on social media, among many others. Thanks to platforms like Slack, Facebook, LinkedIn, Trello. Notifications keep coming. Who knows, you may have to answer why you were the one who did not Like the post on LinkedIn.
It is indeed a Holiday Season for some. Perhaps the top 10%. Employees who get “Holidays” for more than the 3 days that most Americans get. Or perhaps the top 1% who feel it’s “Holiday Season”. Or perhaps those who have had the luxury of working from home for the past 2 years due to the pandemic. Ms. Susan is neither of them. Most Americans can relate to what Ms. Susan said.
I would be mindful of disrespecting another hard-working Ms. Susan and simply say Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year to all! (and may it not be like ’20 and ’21)