I will be spending this Christmas alone well sort of.
[...]
So the Bar it is. Two of my good friends work there and will be working that day so I intend to have fun.
Not to diminish your loss, which is profound, but as someone who has worked the last four years in a bar, I can tell you that you'll have plenty of company.
Before I started working in the bar, I had a job managing a furniture store. As business was really hurting, bonuses were out of the question. Instead, the owners gave the sales person and me 10 days paid time off, from just before Christmas to just after New Year's.
That was the first Christmas I spent entirely alone and, with some medication that had been prescribed, took a "sleep cure": I only got up to use the bathroom and get some water for three days. I woke up feeling really, really good, though it's not something I'd advocate for everybody.
Last Christmas I worked both the 24th and 25th as well as New Year's Eve. They were big money-making days for me, which made up for the fact that I really didn't have anyone special to share the holidays with. The quiet days contrasted nicely with the frantic-busy nights.
This year, though I'm working all three nights again, I'll be spending the afternoon of the 25th with a good friend and his partner for a nice meal: I've made it very clear that I do not want to exchange gifts.
Until I started working in the bar, New Year's Eve was a stay-home night unless one of my partners at the time insisted otherwise. It's never been anything I look forward to, and it's second only to St Patrick's Day as amateur night for folks who just don't know how to drink.
