A frugal life is an easy life!

Sent out for a late present this Christmas Eve, as a favour to someone else, I was given a flashback to the unrecognised plight of the humble shop/store worker.

Whilst working for Halfords many moons ago, a tactic they would do (besides cutting staffing levels) every year, would be to announce the Christmas working hours for the staff, purposely on Christmas eve, head office would make up a rediculously long Christmas eve working day, say till 8pm.
In the resulting outrage by staff, they would send out a memo a week or so later, saying they had reconsidered Christmas eve hours for their "great" "hard working" staff and reduced the hours down to 5pm - which is of course the hours they originally wanted the stores open, but now they look like they are showing consideration towards their staff.

Whilst out today, I enquired at two stores about Christmas eve working hours with the people serving me.
The first company was ASDA:
They are open to the public until 5pm, the till lady then stated that there were staff working until 6pm, possibly putting on the boxing day promotion and sales.
6pm? IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE! Where is the goodwill to already over worked staff?

The second company was H Samuels:
I couldn't believe my ears, the sales lady says they are being forced to work until 5pm, then the store is closing and they are working on the boxing day sale promotion until 7pm!
7pm? On Christmas eve? What an absolutely disgraceful way to treat your staff H Samuels!!!

I can accept that the business has needs, but come on, forcing your staff to work until 7 oclock at night on Christmas eve, after one of their busiest working days of the year?
It's a shocking way to treat the people who keep your business going!

What time did Bob Cratchet work to on Christmas eve, was it 5pm or 6pm?
Businesses today put upon their staff by cutting staff numbers and forcing them to work (what used to be unsociable hours) outside of their normal working hours, on Christmas eve.
A Christmas carol, may have been a fictional piece of work, but never has the sentiment spoken so loudly, rung so true, than with businesses today, in 2009.