Friday, December 13, 2013

All I Want for Christmasssssss....

Yup, I don't know where 2013 has gone....now that I've got that out of the way, here it is Christmas time again.  I feel like I just took the tree down.  I was never a big "all excited about the holidays" person, and my feelings haven't changed much over the years.   I guess the thing I most look forward to is having an extra day or two off work (and not all pharmacists are so lucky),  having an excuse to slow down a bit, cook and eat unhealthy stuff, light the fireplace, watch some goofy movies and generally go off the grid for a bit.   I actually do enjoy buying gifts for the people I care about, but I'm overwhelmed by all the crap in the stores and the urge to buy stuff I (and they) don't need just because it's there.
There are always attempts to have Christmas parties at work --- to go out for dinner or have a gathering somewhere, but everyone's schedule is so busy and quite honestly I think people feel they already spend enough time with their co-workers, and well ------ let's just skip the extracurriculars. No offense.

I hate hearing sad stuff at Christmas -- people getting killed in car accidents or shootings.  We're surrounded by images of big gatherings of friends and family, but I'm acutely aware that it's not like that for many people.  I see a bleak holiday season for many of my customers who are poor or disabled, and I'm so impressed by the ones who take the time to sincerely wish me happy holidays.  Even the folks who are financially well-off are often splintered by family feuds, divorces and custody battles. Christmas can be a cruel season, and I guess that's a consequence of our modern times.

Not to sound totally down on it, cause I'm really not.  I do salute all the people who work on Christmas Day.  I did a few of those myself.  Next year will be interesting --- health care changes and some merges and reorganizing with my employer.  I'm going to look past the rude and demanding customers, the people on their cell phones, the lazy and the entitled.  My philosophy is still this:  show me just a tiny bit of respect, and I'll go to the wall for you.

 I'm still really, really lucky, and I plan to be there.