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25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

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Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#43

There are lots of people for who Xmas isn’t a thing — different background etc. I always thought it would make sense to let us handle Xmas duty so others — people for whom it really, really matters - can do their Xmas stuff. I used to try to volunteer for this when it was relevant (really, it’s not a thing for me), but I rarely saw a systematic opportunity to do so. I think it gets harder as time goes because the rep…

It works a bit like this in Swiss hospitals. Or at least used to. Might have gotten LEANed away.

I have fond memories of christmas dinner as a child/teenager, not because of any religious affiliation but because it was one of the few times a year the family of six, three of which work in hospitals, spent a day or so together. There were few overlaps of free time otherwise.

I don't remember the exact mechanics how it worked, but I think work schedules get set about 6 months in advance with some employee input about their preferences, and employees can to a degree swap shifts with each other. So e.g. it was quite common for people with kids to take christmas off, whereas young singles or from different backgrounds took new years or any other day.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#44

There are lots of people for who Xmas isn’t a thing — different background etc. I always thought it would make sense to let us handle Xmas duty so others — people for whom it really, really matters - can do their Xmas stuff. I used to try to volunteer for this when it was relevant (really, it’s not a thing for me), but I rarely saw a systematic opportunity to do so. I think it gets harder as time goes because the rep…

Exactly. I volunteered (along with 2 others) yesterday to relieve & go home 4 hours early (paid). I would get those 4 hours anytime next month.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#45

Quite a few of my NASA colleagues worked today to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, and I'm sure most of them didn't mind working on Christmas. And I certainly appreciate all of those who work on the holidays to keep us safe.

Thanks for all you and your team's efforts to advance human knowledge!

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#46

Dropped off my wife at work around 7. She's on call at the hospital. Fortunately, it is not -40 here ;-) Happy holidays all!

Many thanks to your wife for carrying on caring for the sick and dying. Especially in times like these. There are many people that actively think about healthcare workers and the unrelenting work that it entails.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#47

There are lots of people for who Xmas isn’t a thing — different background etc. I always thought it would make sense to let us handle Xmas duty so others — people for whom it really, really matters - can do their Xmas stuff. I used to try to volunteer for this when it was relevant (really, it’s not a thing for me), but I rarely saw a systematic opportunity to do so. I think it gets harder as time goes because the rep…

That seems like an ok sentiment when it’s opt-in. At a former place of work, I would be assigned all holidays and hours people didn’t want to work because “I’m a single guy with no kids/fiancé”. I’d almost exclusively work those shifts alone, too. It was absolutely based on who stroked who’s ego the most. This was for little more than minimum wage in a tech department and no such thing as differentials.

Glad that’s over.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#48

Thank you for being grateful. Please also note that Christmas is not a thing for a lot of people. Jews, Chinese, Muslims.

"Chinese" is not a religion. There are quite a large number of ethnically Chinese people who celebrate Christmas as a holy day. There are many more for whom it is a holiday. And many more who don't celebrate at all. Demographics are complicated.

Re: 25-Dec. Shout-out to everyone else at work

#50

I’ve had plenty of on-call shifts at Christmas and New Year’s Eve and it’s always a special time somehow. High five to all of you at work today!

I love taking on-call over the holidays, because with nobody deploying anything, there’s a much lower risk of being paged!
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