A Very Blah Christmas

Thanks to the Covid-19 lock-down, 2020 saw many stir crazy people decorate early for Christmas with some cities and towns being decked out for the holidays by October. This year, something seemed to be a bit off.  I noticed a few dark houses in my neighborhood that would normally be lit with Christmas decorations. A nearby apartment complex that usually saw some tenants put trees in their windows was also curiously devoid of any holiday lights.  There were still those houses that went all out with elaborate Christmas displays, but it was the occasional pocket of darkness along neighborhood streets that had me wondering if people were too emotionally exhausted to fully embrace the Christmas spirit.  When I pointed this phenomenon out to an acquaintance from the nearby town of Marblehead, at first he said there were still fantastic light displays from the houses located along the coast but then he did admit to seeing near-dark neighborhoods in his travels too.

A few of my friends told me they had no desire to decorate for Christmas and they found themselves struggling to finish putting up a tree before the week of Dec. 25th.  Perhaps it was because 2021 seemed like nothing more than a continuation of the miserable year that 2020 was.

While I had made an effort to decorate for Christmas in 2020, I just wasn't in the mood this year.  As the first two weeks of December passed by in a blur, our house was in danger of not being decorated at all.  For 50 years, my family put red Christmas lights in the windows and some of those original bulbs which were purchased a long time ago at now defunct department stores like Zayre's and Rich's still worked.  Well, I didn't want to break a half century of tradition so I mustered up enough strength to drag those lights out of the basement once again.

In years past, my mother and I set up two Christmas trees since she had so many beautiful ornaments to put on display.  In 2019, we decorated the small table top tree that usually graced our back porch because her chronic aches and pains were becoming much worse.  We used that same small tree again in 2020 and despite a hectic work schedule, I still found time to put up most of the Christmas decorations around the house.

This year was definitely different.  With so little free time and not much motivation to put up Christmas decorations, we had to settle for the tiny ceramic light up tree that was usually placed in an upper hallway corner.  We didn't do much else for Christmas aside from a front door wreath and a handful of small ornaments around the house.  For the first time ever, we didn't have a nativity scene, advent wreath or stockings.  It was a very blah Christmas all around and my lack of enthusiasm for what should have been a joyous and holy day was troubling.

The extremely busy work schedule that prevented me from blogging more often was taking its toll. Our bosses were doing very well financially because of the pandemic but 2021 saw my hours get cut and my yearly pay go down.  While other companies were offering higher wages and incentives to attract new employees and retain old ones, our company bellyached about razor-thin profit margins.  They may have congratulated us for a job well done but they weren't too enthusiastic about giving us a much-needed cost of living increase. It's no wonder many people who felt underpaid and overworked simply walked off the job this year.

My company often talks about striking a balance between your work and home life but I found myself spending the past year not having time to put up decorations for several holidays including Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving.  So much for a healthy work / life balance.

As the final hour of 2021 slips away forever, I say good riddance but this sentiment is tempered by misgivings about 2022.  Many of us are still anxious about the uncertainty of these unprecedented times.  Inflation is on the rise. Shortages continue.  Quality connections with other people seem lacking and the internet is a poor substitute.  There's an uptick in the number of Covid cases again with some communities reinstating mask mandates while others consider doing so.  This new normal has left many of us far too weary and holidays like Christmas just don't feel the same anymore.

The Dignity and Indignity of Work

My first foray into the workforce was as a paperboy.  With a large satchel slung over my shoulder, I made the rounds on foot and quickly learned the nuances of each customer.  Tips bolstered my meager wage but a few people weren't that generous.  Some of my earnings purchased a G.I. Joe aircraft carrier which my parents refused to buy since it was huge and expensive.  Making a little bit of money at that age gave me a sense of empowerment.  Sadly, this traditional first job for many kids has been phased out over the years as adults started delivering newspapers in cars.  (Those early morning drivers seem to have vehicles with broken mufflers!)

During the first year of high school, my parents got me a job as a bagger at a small neighborhood grocery store even though I didn't want to work there.  The establishment was famous for their butcher shop and bakery and they catered to an exclusive clientele.  It was quite a culture shock.  Many customers lived on estates and came from old money.  Some spoke with a Boston Brahmin accent while others shopped in the riding gear they had worn to polo matches at the nearby Myopia Hunt Club.

The store's high level of customer service was supposed to offset its high prices.  Baggers not only packed the groceries, they wheeled them out to customers' automobiles with a special cart.  After loading everything inside, a small tip was encouraged since we only made minimum wage.  50 cents was the average, a dollar was great and a quarter was on the stingy side.  The fancier the customer's car, the cheaper they seemed to be with many Volvo, Mercedes and BMW drivers opting not to tip at all.  These wealthy shoppers could be very arrogant at times.  Money in my bank account was nice but I really didn't like having my intelligence insulted.

The store also had its fair share of elderly customers and some of them were just plain grumpy.  One lady who walked with crutches complained repeatedly that the Japanese broke her legs when she was a nurse stationed in the Philippines.  Now perhaps this wasn't the best way to introduce herself to a young person whose history class had not covered all the ins and outs of WW II.  I witnessed one customer's inconsiderate behavior bring a cashier to tears.

Tips further dwindled when management regularly took baggers off the floor to do busy work.  Funny how sorting out bottle deposits in a dank and moldy section of the basement never made it into the job description.  Sometimes we found ourselves “helping out” in other departments but our paychecks were not increased accordingly.  Rules were selectively enforced and to top it all off, the same terrible muzak played in the background day in day out.  When you're a young and naive teen, this kind of environment can make you angry and judgmental.  Service with a smile?  Not so much.  If anything, working here taught me how not to treat others.

As Christians, do we see the people serving us as fellow human beings or are they just lowly servants that fade into the background?  The reality TV show Undercover Boss has highlighted some pretty menial jobs but the program also shows how most workers have hopes, dreams and skills that go far beyond their current employment status.  Over the years, my family has become friends with a few of the waitresses at our favorite restaurants.  When we talk, I see beyond their position in life and sometimes they even sit down with us when it's not too busy.  Not everyone has found their dream job yet.  We shouldn't hold that against them.

There are many facets to life: relationships, hobbies, self-improvement, a lifetime of learning.  If a job demands we give up all of those things, then earning a living comes at a very high cost.