Thanksgiving week

Warming up the brain, warming up the fingers.  I have a funeral to write about in the project.

It's Thanksgiving week.  Busiest week of the year in ye olde grocery biz.  Surprised that I ended up with the Sunday before off, except that I'll be working Turkey Day itself.

Lot's of shit up on the Facespace and all that about people arguing whether stores should be open on Thanksgiving, and all that.

My short answer?  If it were mine to open and close, I would not open.  That said, I am not terribly up in arms about being the manager on duty that day.  The fact that my family will be eating our Thanksgiving dinner on another day does have something to do with that answer, however.

Can I answer a couple of quick responses to complaints about working holidays?

1.)  People are paid more for their holiday work.  (Mine aren't.  Nor am I.  That's a company decision.  I'm interested to hear if competitors are paying more for holidays, but I'm betting they're not).

2.)  People need those hours.  (Maybe, but those on my full time staff who aren't working the holiday are getting their full allotment of hours.  Funny how that works.   The part timers who work for me usually end up getting more hours, too.  Sometimes to cover for the folks who live far away, and are attending school in my town)

Only tangentially related:  reading a book called Kiln People, by David Brin.  Elisson gave me a copy at the last Hysterics at Eric's get together in October.  I'm about 20% through right now, but I will say there was a bit about people having to swear fealty to a company, and I had to stop reading to laugh, and then feel a little bad about my place in the fiefdom.

I dunno.  At the end of the day, I've accepted that my store will be open.  It's only a half day for us, so there's some small victory in that.  Is it a necessary day?  No.  Not really.  I honestly think that if everybody closed up, maybe the largest part of society would learn to get their shit together and buy by Wednesday, and those that can't would learn to do without.  But, we're open, so come on in an shop.

However, don't say: I'm sorry that you have to work on Thanksgiving.

Because it stings.  And because I don't think you are.  At least, that apology always rings hollow.  I'd rather not hear it.

I'm not going to call you an asshole, because we all forget stuff.  But, if you and everybody else who shopped on Thanksgiving could remember Cranberry Sauce or Brown and Serve rolls, my ass wouldn't have to be there.

Anyway.  I'm going in today at 2.  From 2 pm today, until 3 pm Thursday, a 73 hour span, I'll pull four shifts.  I'll put in somewhere between 40 and 45 hours during that time, not counting the hour or so I spend commuting each day.

The last thing I want to say is this:  Don't be a dick this week.  Everybody's having Thanksgiving.  Not just you.  Don't yell.  Don't get mad if the store is out of an odd item--last year I believe it was French's Fried Onions.  That odd product...be it turkey bags, water chestnuts or French's Fried Onions won't fix the screwed up relationship you have with your family.  If Uncle Gus is mad because there aren't water chestnuts in the stuffing, then water chestnuts aren't the problem, Uncle Gus is.

Which sounds to me like you might need to disappear Uncle Gus.

Who the fuck likes water chestnuts?

It's like chewing on refrigerated testicles.

It's gross.

So.  Don't yell at grocery store workers, and get rid of Uncle Gus.  That Zero is a drain on the economy anyway.