Oh crap! You’re at a neighbor’s house Christmas Eve and they give you a gift. You weren’t expecting one. You thought the whole gift exchange thing was done. And naturally you’re not the type who keeps that emergency gift in the closet for just these times. Lesson learned.
So what did you do?
Rather than saying “Thank you, you shouldn’t have” these words rolled off your tongue:
“Oh, I have one for you too. I was going to drop it off tomorrow morning before we headed out to see the family.”
Well fortunately for you our friends at Walmart and Target are going to save your butt. Yes, they have told their employees that Christmas is cancelled. Forget church, 7 fishes, Santa, the Yule Log and whatever other tradition you may have. Christmas for you is cancelled.
In a shareholder-centric move, Walmart and Target stores will remain open from 4:00 AM on Christmas Eve through 3:00PM on Christmas Day – and all employees will be scheduled. Heck, now you can even get your exchanges done right after the moment of disappointment. Get your last minute Christmas Tree and decorations on Christmas Day. Imagine the fun you and the family can have putting up the tree on December 25th and taking it down the next day?
Now don’t be expecting happy engaged employees. And I’m sure these two stores will not be stocking Diary of the Happiest Employee on Earth! I’m also certain that the customer experience may not be the best either. But from what I hear their families have been invited in for a glass of Egg Nog, some cookies and to drop off a present to their hard working relative; so you never know.
So when you leave that holiday party late on December 24th, do not go home. Go directly to your car. You’ll have that opportunity to rid yourself of that awful feeling of not buying that gift.
Hmmm….come to think of it maybe I’ll just move Christmas out of my house. Buy presents, wrapping paper, tape and toss the presents under a store tree.
Happy Shopping Season!
Disclaimer: This is a joke. There is no factual evidence to this story. I was in a mood this morning and having some fun. But seriously, with Black Friday merging into Thanksgiving Day for some retailers this could very well be the next very real scenario. I hope it is not the case and I do hope that the hard working retail employee in your family gets to enjoy as much of the holiday season with you as possible.
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RICH DIGIROLAMO, founder Recess At Work, works with organizations to create happier work environments, strengthen work teams, design new programs, and create better relationships with customers and peers. In his new book Diary of the Happiest Employee on Earth: 52 Provoking Thoughts for Creating a Great Workplace he talks about why it is important to create a great employee experience throughout the year.
Are you ready to take a Recess with Rich, inject some new energy into your organization and create an even better employee and customer experience?
