If this is the Holiday spirit, you can keep it.

I have been working in customer service for the past 10 years of my life more or less. I really have a problem with the holiday season. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy some of what happens during Christmas time, but seriously people. Seriously. How come the season that is supposed to bring out the best of us as Christians or Americans or humans or whatever, brings out the worst in us?

Today was a Saturday. A weekend. A day of relaxation. I typically enjoy working Saturdays just because of the crowd that comes through my store; it usually helps me feel like work isn’t so bad. Not during the holidays. It seems like everybody is in a worse mood on the weekends than on a Monday morning. What the heck?

This is the season of giving, of charity, of forgiveness, I don’t care who you are. Everybody does something this time of year even if it is as passive as enjoying the lights or the smells or the weather. Hate to break it to you, but comfort food was not invented during the summer. Why in spite of so much visible charity and crap do people have to be such jerks? Seriously, I can’t understand it.

I appreciate all the large things that happen during this time of year. At a school meeting a couple weeks ago, we raised $60 just by passing a brown paper bag around the room and explaining it was for a service mission. Cool stuff. There are Christmas trees with ornaments in our lobby at work that with Christmas requests from needy families. The requests are being filled. Way cool. I am sure I am going to be bombarded with reports over the next couple weeks saying things like “We were able to collect $xxxx for xxxxx during the month of December. Thank you everybody, good job us.” I can get behind the spirit of the report. But think about it, why does everybody have to be so epic? Why are we so focused as a general population that we have to focus on what can physically be documented as good will, as opposed to just having good will and being okay with that? I enjoy a pat on the back as much as anybody else, but c’mon.

I was cussed out today by at least four different customers, one of them a steady regular, who even went so far as to say “I only go to this store because you guys are the only ones who can do it right” after lighting me up for putting whipped cream on top her drink. I had somebody I didn’t know yelling at me demanding to talk to my manager and my district manager before she would even consider leaving the store because I was being so idiotic, especially after pointing out to her the sign, on the back of the register, which said we do not do what she was asking me to do. Today I had a 400% increase of inappropriate and disproportionate angry customers in realation to the last six months combined. Why? It was a Saturday… during the holidays. How retarded.

I went to Costco and watched an older middle age (does that make sense?)lady literally ram another middle aged lady out of her way with the cart. The rammed lady turned and flipped the rammer off. The rammer simply rammed again. Keep in mind; I was in the same traffic jam, caused by a spontaneous line forming in front of a free pizza sample, as if none of these people ever had pizza before, or at least Costco pizza, which is inherently the best because it can be purchased at Costco. (I shop there, I like it, I appreciate the values and offers and everything, but I think people can get a bit carried away sometimes) Anyway, the rammed lady just stood there for a minute, then said “F*** lady, do you want a piece or what?” and while stomping off. It blew my mind. These were literally grandmas, (I saw representatives from all 3 generations of the rammed ladies family in the same line) duking it out over waiting for 25 seconds to get from point A to point B and a small sample of pepperoni freaking pizza. holy crap.

Anyway, the point of this is: it would be nice if everybody did, but you do not need to buy everything on sale so you can give it all away to make other people happy to feel the holiday spirit. Just be polite. Do what you do every other time of year. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t be epic. Just be patient. In fact, enjoy yourself. Have fun waiting in line. Understand that you are making a choice to put yourself in these situations, don’t make everybody else pay because it wasn’t what you imagined. Please. Please. Please. If all else fails, be glad you are alive. That has to mean something doesn’t it? Team humanity? C’mon guys, same team. Don’t let the holidays ruin it. Don’t let the only happy moments and simple kindnesses of the season be stolen away to only exist in the movies that are so characteristic of this season. Live them. Make your own happy movies and quirky and therefore memorable shopping trips. Don’t leave it to someone else. This one starts with you.

Please.