TEA TIME: A HOLIDAY PLEDGE

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Ah, the holiday season.

The moment November first rolls around, suddenly everything is red, green and peppermint-flavoured, as if by magic. If that magical force was capitalism. Instead of going on and on about how weird and strange and wrong I find the holiday season (which I do way too frequently, and may go off in another rant later on down the line, once the Christmas season really, really starts to drive me nuts), instead I’m going to start this Tea Time off with a pledge: 



This holiday season I will be kind to retail workers.

Remember, friends, that no matter how long the lines in stores are - there are cashiers serving every single person in as quickly and timely of a fashion as they can.

Remember that the guy behind you in line is driving you nuts, now imagine how the person who has to serve him will feel.

Remember that, more often than not, no matter how much your pocketbook is shrinking from holiday shopping, most of these workers are paid the bare-minimum wage that can be paid (and in most countries, is nowhere near livable).

Remember that if you’ve had a long day at work and are tired, the people working retail are usually working eight to nine hour days on their feet all day with very few breaks in between.

Remember that retail workers, food service workers, and all the people we come face-to-face with during the holiday season are often working through important holidays, with little to no benefits. Remember that for many of them, there is no holiday season - the holiday season simply means more work and longer days.

This holiday season, please, as a fellow retail worker, I beg you,

Please be kind to retail workers. Please be kind to all the workers you come in to contact with during the holiday season - we are all working very, very hard.

Please try to spread as much holiday cheer with kindness, gratitude, patience and generosity as you can - if we all can try to cultivate this mindset, imagine how much lovelier the holidays will be!