I've got Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off......

[Lanie]

for the first time in probably a decade. I'm so excited!!!

That is all.

[daveman]

That's great, hon.

[Gingersnap]

Good for you! I well remember crawling into a lab on Christmas Day afternoon to check on some process that happened over days or working retail and having to change all the freaking tags that evening so the big After Christmas Sale could go on.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I worked in retail management for six months after finishing undergraduate school. Paid well, excellent benefits, miserable hours and working conditions. After surviving Easter, I swore 2 things:

1. I would never EVER lift another 24-pound box of chocolate bunnies, and

2. I would find a different career before Thanksgiving.

Immediately after passing management training, I gave notice and accepted a job in social services. Less money but regular hours, coworkers who talked about something other than sports or recipes (or soap operas!), NO lifting (except being allowed to cuddle the occasional new baby) and the "customers" were generally a lot nicer.

[phillygirl]

Glad to hear it, Lanie. You deserve it! Enjoy!

[Lanie]

I worked in retail management for six months after finishing undergraduate school. Paid well, excellent benefits, miserable hours and working conditions. After surviving Easter, I swore 2 things:

1. I would never EVER lift another 24-pound box of chocolate bunnies, and

2. I would find a different career before Thanksgiving.

Immediately after passing management training, I gave notice and accepted a job in social services. Less money but regular hours, coworkers who talked about something other than sports or recipes (or soap operas!), NO lifting (except being allowed to cuddle the occasional new baby) and the "customers" were generally a lot nicer.

My goal is to get regular hours in the next year. I am not wanting too much. I did have them on my previous job, but it was too stressful. I thought you needed a special degree to work in Social Services.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

My goal is to get regular hours in the next year. I am not wanting too much. I did have them on my previous job, but it was too stressful. I thought you needed a special degree to work in Social Services.

Not back then. We're talking 1976. A college degree was desirable (not necessarily in social work - mine wasn't) but for some positions not required. There was a civil service exam. My having fluency in French and especially Spanish (due to the Mariel situation) was practically a guarantee of hire and rapid advancement at the time. Once a person got to unit supervisor, an MSW was advisable if they wanted to advance further, but the agency would help pay for it if the employee would take classes while working.

I don't know what the requirements are now. When I moved to SF in the early '80s, MSWs and PhDs were thick on the ground, no one was hiring in social services and if they were, they had their pick of graduate degrees in social work. I switched gears, took a job in insurance claims and enrolled in law school. The rest is history.

[trap32]

I hope everyone here had as wonderful a Christmas as possible...

[phillygirl]

I hope everyone here had as wonderful a Christmas as possible...

Same to you, Trap! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Celeste Chalfonte]

HRH and I had a lovely Christmas. I hope everyone here did also. After some initial difficulties with the postal service, the boxes from Nova and my sister arrived on Christmas Eve, so they made it under the tree.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!