Ah, from the sublime to…well, as close as Sesame Street gets to the profane:

I don’t hate Christmas, but I love Caroll Spinney, whose birthday is today.  Happy birthday, dear Mr. Spinney!

I don’t hate Christmas now, but there was a time when it was painful for me because it was so difficult for me to get time off from work.  The lack of quality time with my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas hurt me so badly that I started getting resentful of everything and everyone that spread holiday cheer.  It got to the point that the only Christmas programs I could stand to watch were the holiday-themed episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

I’m in a somewhat similar situation now, in that I’m working for a company/organization that doesn’t close for holidays and needs to maintain minimum staff requirements during those times.  And yet, things are better now, because I asked my manager what was the possibility of using paid time off at any time during this week besides Christmas, expecting her to say, “Slim to none.”  But no, she said something to the effect of, “We can make it work any day that week besides Christmas, because I’m grateful to you for working the holiday.”

What a nice Christmas surprise!  Such a pleasant change of pace to have PTO and not be punished for using it.