Christmas Woes.

So Christmas time is coming. I know it is hard to believe. More than a month left and I still haven't done much shopping. But that isn't the reason for writing. In fact the reason I am writing has nothing to do with the store, mass marketing, or people that I don't know. It has to do with co-workers.

I work in a small company and do customer support for them. I am one of 4 people that answers the phone during the day. Of course one of the four people has only been here a month now and because the company has no training, he is a duck in the middle of the ocean. So I was trying to plan my last three days of vacation for the year. My parents are hosting Christmas in Virginia, which is tough since I am in Massachusetts. So I was hoping to take a day off after christmas to do travelling. Checking with my boss had no vacation days scheduled for my 3 co workers. He asked me to check with them, this is where the issue arrives. One of them doesn't have any days off. The other has everyday after christmas until Jan 3rd off. And since the new guy can't really handle things we still need to keep two others here. So that causes problems. Can't take a travel day off after Christmas. Now from last year, She said this was the only time the whole family got together for her. Here starts my rant.

WTF. Other people get together with their families over Christmas. And most people actually plan "Family Reunions" at other times to get the whole family together. If you can't make a family reunion then you can't see the family that year. There are times when I haven't seen Uncles and cousins for a year or two because I wasn't able to make it to a family reunion. So I swear she needs to plan some other time to get together with her family. The other thing is that she has been using up vacation around most of the holidays this year. She used stuff around July 4th, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Christmas, New Years, and I forget about the spring. Can't she take a vacation any other time. Other people have families and want to get together with them. Plus she isn't traveling nearly as long as I am. She also did the same thing last year. The least that she could do is actually switch years with people and ask if other people need time for thier families.

So we are seeing if everyone in the family can actually celebrate Christmas on Saturday or Sunday instead of on Monday. That way I won't be interrupting their celebrations to get a ride to the airport. I also understand that I won't be able to make it to my parents house every christmas but it is usually nice to try.

So I guess what I am trying to ask people is. No matter how much longer you have been at a company, think of your co-workers and see if they could use the time off. Selfishness in yourself breeds selffishness in others.