The Week In-between Christmas and New Year’s

(Note: No editing on this. You have been warned.)

When I first moved to New York, and I was temping, I was one of the few people who was willing to work on the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I worked for a company that was in a midtown tower that had an amazing view of Central Park. At the job, I sat at a reception desk for eight hours, and did nothing. No one called, and except for a very sad office manager, I was alone. I couldn’t do anything on the computer; no Google searches, no looking at social media, and being that it was December 2006, no smart phones. I had a journal and a book to read, but even that annoyed the office manager. It was painfully boring week, but at the same time, the easiest $800 I ever made.

By the time the next Christmas rolled around, I was working at Shetler Studios as their office manager. As I was the newest guy on the staff, that first Christmas, I was the guy who worked the In-between week of Christmas and New Year’s. You may wonder, who uses a rehearsal studio during that week? The answer is virtually no one. There was one guys who practiced piano every day, and he would come by during that week, and he was a good guy who could play, so it was fun having him there. Other than that, and the night manager who came in at 5pm, nothing happened during that week.

As I started this in-between week, I thought back on those two jobs today. Sitting someplace, all alone, working but for what purpose? It most likely was true for that company in midtown, and was definitely true for the studios, that being open for that week was a loss for the company. Being closed would have made more sense, and saved money. But no, both companies spent a dollar to make a dime. I never asked the office manager at the midtown company why they were open, mainly because I needed the job and they were paying $5 more than I normally earned. When I asked old man Shetler why the studios were open, his response was that they were always open, no matter what.

Just a thought that came into my head this morning.