So much for xmas eve dinner....

[SG15Z]

*sigh* Well guess what everyone. Kroger doesn't close until 9pm on xmas eve! And guess who the closing FES is? Yep yours truly! Which means if I have to do everything I did on Thanksgiving I won't get out of there til 10....

And then I get to do graveyard on the weekend! Oh joy! Chistmas is my only day off!!!!! Sometimes I hate this company...

[lupo pazzesco]

<HUGS> I'm sorry, hun. I kind of know how you feel. I came home for Christmas to spend time with my family, and my mom is working until 10:30 Christmas Eve! There goes one of our traditions right off the bat. We like to go driving around and looking at lights for a while, but that's not happening. and the day after Christmas, she's working another super long shift, too. Christmas is also her only day off.

I feel for you!! Hope you have a good holiday, regardless. Hope corporate BS doesn't keep you too down. Maybe a Christmas miracle will occur and there will be minimal SCs...?

[SG15Z]

Oh it would be a miracle alright. The Deli manager goofed and scheduled all her people to get off at 4, but they have holiday dinner orders scheduled for pickup at 6. Something tells me a few christmas' will be ruined thanks to the goof...

[AirHostess]

Why are retail workers not entitled to time off too? Why do shops need to be opened until late Xmas Eve and Boxing Day? It's corporate greed which has got us into the current economic situation!

[Chromatix]

I checked the opening hours over here - Finland is much stricter about workers' rights, so shop opening hours are regulated.

On the 24th, most shops close for the afternoon, and even the buses will stop by the evening.

Essentially nothing will be open or moving on the 25th - just emergency services (including the domestic abuse shelters).

On the 26th, some (but by no means all) shops will be open for a short time.

Oh, and did I mention that Finland is heading for a labour shortage in the next few years?

[lupo pazzesco]

Oh it would be a miracle alright. The Deli manager goofed and scheduled all her people to get off at 4, but they have holiday dinner orders scheduled for pickup at 6. Something tells me a few christmas' will be ruined thanks to the goof...

<Wince> ouchies...so sowies...

Sending lots of hot cocoa and my "special eggnog" your way. (Made with rum and bourbon. Or, as my brother calls it, "knock-you-on-your-ass"nog)

Why are retail workers not entitled to time off too? Why do shops need to be opened until late Xmas Eve and Boxing Day?

Because there will STILL be people out shopping that late. My mom works the service desk at a K-Mart, and when she's had to work until 10 previous Christmas Eves, she's told stories of people who were screaming because they weren't staying open later!! While I agree it's corporate greed in part, I have to believe it's also SCs writing to corporate to complain about specific stores. (and that's all I'll say, because anything else may be fratching territory, and I'd rather not risk it...) Another store in the chain in the city is closing at 6, but mom's store is open till 10.

<shrugs> I don't claim to understand it, I just know it sucks, and the people shopping that late generally suck, too. My poor mommy...

[SG15Z]

Thanks! *takes sip of "special eggnog*

WHOA!! Strong stuff you got there!

[AirHostess]

Things are a bit different in the UK thank goodness, ALL stores closed on Xmas Day (except airport stores and maybe a few small local grocery stores)

No supermarkets or high street chains open.

Most closed Boxing day too.



Best of all, we have very few flights Christmas Day so I am at home too

[crazylegs]

Things are a bit different in the UK thank goodness, ALL stores closed on Xmas Day (except airport stores and maybe a few small local grocery stores)

No supermarkets or high street chains open.

Most closed Boxing day too.

Uh, quite a few shops in <My Town> are open, a couple of petrol stations, a few corner shops etc...

Boxing Day, the majority of the chains will be open on the High Street, the two retail parks will be open too.

I feel really sorry for the poor store workers and I for one won't be going aywhere near them! (the stores, not the workers...)

[wagegoth]

I checked the opening hours over here - Finland is much stricter about workers' rights, so shop opening hours are regulated.

On the 24th, most shops close for the afternoon, and even the buses will stop by the evening.

Essentially nothing will be open or moving on the 25th - just emergency services (including the domestic abuse shelters).

On the 26th, some (but by no means all) shops will be open for a short time.

Oh, and did I mention that Finland is heading for a labour shortage in the next few years?

I want to move to beautiful Finlandia! Is Finnish difficult to learn?

[Chromatix]

I want to move to beautiful Finlandia! Is Finnish difficult to learn?

Unfortunately Finnish is a difficult language for an Anglophone to learn. The two languages are almost completely unrelated.

Star Wreck - a film made in Finnish, in Finland. It has English subtitles...

The good news is that many (not all) Finns speak acceptable English, and it's possible to find jobs here that don't require you to speak (much) Finnish. Don't count on it for a customer-facing job though.

[Bliss]

What about for someone who speaks spanish?

[wagegoth]

Unfortunately Finnish is a difficult language for an Anglophone to learn. The two languages are almost completely unrelated.

Star Wreck - a film made in Finnish, in Finland. It has English subtitles...

The good news is that many (not all) Finns speak acceptable English, and it's possible to find jobs here that don't require you to speak (much) Finnish. Don't count on it for a customer-facing job though.

I'm a legal secretary now, working on my paralegal certificate. I was looking to emigrate to Canada, but I'm open to any country with a decent treatment of its citizens.

[Supermarket Slave Girl]

I ended up working till 10pm christmas eve, even though the store shut at 9pm, all the ciggarettes had to be pulled out and put in the vault since the store was closed for the next 2 days.

[Chromatix]

To be fair, if you happen to know Swedish, you have a good head-start. Swedish is the official minority language of Finland, and indeed some areas have it as a majority language (Åland, for example). Swedish is a Germanic language, and thus people are more likely to randomly know it than Finnish.

But Finnish is, IMHO, probably easier to learn *fluently* than Swedish is. There's just a steep initial learning curve because of the strangeness of it.