It's the time of year again when I start seeing all the poor me, it's so unfair posts about people having to work on Thanksgiving. There are calls to boycott retail establishments and whatnot. Wives complaining about how their loved one has to spend the day shuttling other people. It irks me for several reasons. Not one mention is made about all the other people, outside of retail or aviation, who have to work on Thanksgiving, or any other big holiday. Last year I worked on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve. And I lived. So did my kids. Because the place where I choose to work operations 24/7/365. Even during hurricanes. It's a hospital, it CAN'T close. So we all suck it up and work. And so do the police, EMS, gas station attendants (where would be buy our newspapers to get all the Black Friday deals if the gas station was closed?OMG, you mean we would all have to plan ahead to buy gas the night before?), movie theater workers, military, care home workers, stadium workers (for those holiday bowl and NFL games) and hundreds of other people. So over it already. The industry you chose to enter doesn't close for the holidays. Celebrate the sentiment another day and move on. Not to mention the impracticality of getting every pilot to his home destination- who would fly the last planes back to base? And pick them up again?
Which brings me to my next item- what's the big deal about celebrating on another day? Most people don't have a problem with celebrating their birthday with a party on the weekend instead of on the weekday that is the actual day. But we can't change Thanksgiving or Christmas the same way? Thanksgiving is a holiday that was randomly assigned to a day that *might* have been when a celebration was had. And if you've read Lies My Teacher Told Me, and knew the truth about the Pilgrim/Indian interactions you might not want to celebrate the holiday anyway. So turn it into family-appreciation/remembering-what-we-are-thankful-for-day that is not tied to a particular calendar day. Maybe your family will be happy not to have to split between multiple dinners or travel on the biggest travel weekend of the year. Can they not arrange to take a few days off earlier or later instead? If you are not near family, can you not take a few days off and travel there or to where your pilot is overnighting? A's schedules have always had him ending in early afternoon, making it easy for him to spend the evening celebrating.
I feel the same about Christmas. There is much controversy regarding the commercialization of Christmas as well as the exact date of Christ's birth. If you celebrate the day for the presents and giving, well you can do that on any day- even with children. If you celebrate it for being the birth of the savior, that can be done in any place, not only in your hometown. It's easy to find a church and if you call ahead, they can probably even find someone to transport you from your hotel and back. Jesus will appreciate the effort, not the location.
Maybe I'm just in a grouchy mood since A just left but after years in the industry now and hearing the same complaints over and over I am just over it. And so many people don't realize the inconsistencies in their own beliefs they hold about "special days". Bah Humbug!
