Assisted Living Doesn’t Take A Holiday

(I’m working at the front desk of an assisted living facility on Christmas Day. A visitor comes in to see a resident and she comes up to my desk with her family to sign in. They’re talking as they come in the door.)

Visitor: “I just can’t believe they have them working on Christmas Day! It’s not right. People shouldn’t work on the Lord’s birthday!”

Me: *having heard this and not too pleased with her attitude, I give the very basic of customer service greetings* “Welcome to [Business].”

Visitor: “No, it’s ‘Merry Christmas’! You say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ first!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but not everyone celebrates the holiday, so I just stay with the standard greeting unless someone says it first.”

Visitor: “And you’re working today, too. Disrespecting our Lord and savior!”

(I really, REALLY want to go off on a rant about how Pagan traditions came before Christian ones and how Jesus’s birthday wasn’t even in December according to most scholars, etc.)

Me: “Well, someone has to be here to let those like yourself in to visit their loved ones.” *insert sugar-coated customer service smile here*

Visitor: *eyes bulging* “Well! I… I just…” *turns red and stomps off, her family following, the teenage kids snickering*

(Seriously. You can’t have it both ways — getting to visit people or go shopping or whatever and NOT having people work on a holiday. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works! Idiots.)