Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve and traditionally the world stops. Except where it does not stop.

Here in New York most of the work places close early, the stock market close at 1 pm, many department stores and other stores have early closing times. When I lived in Budapest even in the darkest Soviet rule on Christmas Eve everything and I do mean everything was closed. Even public transportation stopped running early.

Now, that was a real holiday observance.

I can not imagine that magnitude of stoppage simply because people would complain. While most of the people want to get home early to be with family those same would be the first to complain if the bus driver or the train operator would want to have the same privilege. That's pretty democratic, right?

Then when one goes to an orthodox Jewish neighborhood one can find all businesses operating with normal hours. Both on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. The unfairness is that all the low paid people working in these places are poor Hispanics who all happen to be Christians and not Jewish. They were probably all told that if they did not show up they can say goodbye to their jobs. Pretty democratic, right?

Today my friends and I went to very nice Italian restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner. The dinner was superb, the company superber! After dinner the four of us drove around in Queens to look at houses decorated for the holidays. We saw some real breathtaking homes that looked really gaudy and we saw some that were tastefully decorated.

Some people obviously hire professionals to do the stuff just so they may be the best in the neighborhood. But hey it is their money not mine. Tomorrow is Christmas Day and I will be having dinner with family and friends and I am really looking forward to it.

And I do hope everybody is having a nice Christmas!