Dad’s Working, Again
Another Christmas, another bank holiday working.
I’ve worked Christmas all my adult life, it’s gotten so that I don’t really know what Christmas is like for ‘normal’ people. When I joined the job I was a young single lad, still a teenager. I always volunteered for Xmas Day so that the married lads with kids could have the day at home.
We used to work a system whereby because we got paid double time on a bank holiday, the job couldn’t afford to have everyone work so half the shift worked Xmas Day, the other half worked Boxing Day. I always said if you wanted to commit crime do it on a bank holiday as there’s only half the amount of coppers as normal. And we didn’t go out on patrol. It was the one day of the year we were actually allowed to sit around the nick watching Noel Edmonds & eating mince pies. It was like the last day of term at school, no work and we could bring games in.
I spent the first few years working Xmas Day, then. In those days the shift rotation meant that your shift was probably on duty for 6 or 7 years on the trot, then by the time you came for guaranteed rest days at Christmas, if you were really lucky you got transferred to another shift or nick and started at the wrong end of the cycle. When I got married, I still volunteered for Xmas Day because we didn’t have kids. So if my shift was on over Xmas, I invariably worked.
Then I had kids and by the time the first got to an age where she knew what Christmas was, I no longer had the choice whether to work one or the other, we were on depleted shifts so you worked both. I reckon in nearly 30 years I’ve had 6 or 7 Christmas days off.
Double-bubble is all very well but families are important. My kids don’t get to have the day with their dad, much like throughout the rest of the year. This year I get the luck of working lates at Christmas & nights at New Year so that’s me knackered for a fun Christmas.
Still, not long to go now & then they can shove their Christmas working where the sun don’t shine…
frontline says:
I know the feeling, I have worked the last 5 years on the trot, both christmas and new years!. My christmas usually consists of either attempting to stay awake from a night shift before retiring to bed or scoffing the christmas dinner down before heading of for the next shift. This year I managed to wangle and having applied 1 year 3 months previously have got both christmas eve and day off. So, baste that turkey, light the pudding and crack some cans, time to put my feet up
December 15th, 2007 at 10:04 am
uncomfortably numb says:
This says it all for me, I’m so tired of looking into my other half’s face steeped in disappointment and she’s bored of hearing the endless apologies and promises that it’ll be better next year. Christmas just confirms the feeling in your stomach that you ignore for the rest of the year, that your conspicuously missing from the family photos and friend’s anecdotes because your always at work.
This year rather than letting those who are on a non-core day get a bit of time at home with loved ones, possibly snatching a few minutes to witness their children open their presents we’ve been posted to work 1600-0100. Surprisingly when we checked the roster for the duties office staff they’ve managed to get the day off in order to get some well needed rest away from the nine to five and to prepare for the less than five double bubble they’ll get for aid not offered to us mere mortals.
Still, I’m sure it’ll be different next year…
December 20th, 2007 at 2:01 am