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Working on Christmas Eve - Christmas Day

M

masterg

We've BTDT, I suppose, but how about some stories? Sad, funny, somewhere in-between, we all have at least a few about the lovely and time-honored practice of jocks working holidays. Christmas was one of the worst, especially if you were a single guy, because those with kids usually got some consideration on Christmas Eve and Day, while it was a given you'd pick up the slack. "You won't mind, you don't have kids, right?"

My saddest/weirdest was my first Christmas Eve in radio. Me being single, the PD hung the morning show on me, which meant no going home until that was over. I spent Christmas Eve in a bar; the bartender, a woman with nowhere to go, and me. Bizarre, almost like some dark one act play. It was snowing, too, a nice touch. Deserted streets, blowing snow, Christmas music faintly whispering somewhere off in the distance, and there we were, sitting at a bar. Kind of creeps me out to this day...
 
I remember my first radio job began in November of 18 something or other.
Part-time, working with the night time disk jockey, taking notes, learning the job.
A month or so later, the mid-day jock left rather unexpectedly, and I was plunked into the slot, I believe more as a big money saving ploy than because of my skills.
Mentioning Christmas, which was fast approaching, the PD, who actually stayed through most of my shift each day, screaming, cajoling, mentoring, pounding excellent basic on-air skills into my head, said: "Kid, in this business, Christmas is Thursday, December 25". That was the first indication that the job was actually going be mine, because the deal was I could be replaced instantly, if the PD and Manager didn't feel I was improving each day.

I also remember the pure joy of my first radio sales job, and the incredible feeling of almost playing hookey, when I didn't have to work weekends and holidays.

Merry Christmas every one, especially those who will be working.
 
I was a full-time part-timer at one station. That is, a PT who was at the top of the call list and often worked nearly every day. On Christmas, the FT crew each pulled a 2-hour shift, compressing the workday down to, "Oh, Tom, you're doing 3-midnight." Live, of course. You tell people, "It's a wonderful Christmas day and we hope you're having a good time, same as the staff here at the station," when actually you want to say, "I left my parents' home at noon so I could drive to this effing toilet of a station and be here alone for nine effing hours in a dirty basement studio playing this crappy Christmas music and trying to sound happy."

I still work Christmas Eve and Day, but with my parents gone and my brother way up in Quebec City, it's a lot different and I don't mind it as much. Things are different when you're at retirement age and Santa comes more often each year than you do.
 
I actually have a warm and fuzzy Christmas airshift memory. I was scheduled 12 noon to midnight.While that sounds outrageous, it was a small suburban AM-FM simulcast combo, I loved the time on the air and I was the "bright ,shining face" who took every hour he could get.
My parents, who grew to understand the radio business as time plodded on, couldn't believe that I was working a 12 hour shift on Christmas. But, being as supportive as they could be towards the career aspirations their 18 year old son had, packed up Christmas dinner, drove to the station , and had dinner with me in the studio. I played their favorite songs, we had a few laughs.....it was a special moment for me, especially now that they are gone from this earthly life.It was sort of a coming of age, as well. After that, they seemed less upset that their boy chose a career as a broadcaster.
 
That is a nice story and a nice memory...I think after a while Mom and Dad and the family understand. I still chuckle when an intern asks....you work the holidays? I start to think then this is not the business for you kid. After working so many holidays....you kind of get use to it...oh, well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year....
 
my christmas story was in 1969. first job in radio part time while in high school. it was a daytimer (out in the middle of nowhere). it was snowing christmas morning when i got in....then kept snowing and snowing.....i was snowed in for 3 days. i just love snow on christmas!
 
I also remember the pure joy of my first radio sales job, and the incredible feeling of almost playing hookey, when I didn't have to work weekends and holidays.
Click to expand...

Wow - do I remember that feeling. After getting out of radio, weekends were like some sort of bonus, an undeserved bonus. I felt like I was doing something wrong for months by NOT going to work on weekends.
 
I have some extremely fond memories of working Christmas Day. As a PT, I worked at the original SPI 95 in Shamokin. You think that no one is listening, but we had cookies delivered from a nice older woman who said she had no one to spend the day with. Phone calls abounded, and put me in the spirit. I was single at the time, and my parents and girlfriend NEVER UNDERSTOOD why it was important for me to work on Christmas Day. Don't have to do it now, with automation and everything, and sometimes I miss it.

We affect people in ways that we will never know...and I, for one, take great comfort and pride in that. Anyone now in radio, or having gone before us, have a significant impact on our listeners!

The hell with being politically correct...Merry Christmas!, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa (sp). Enjoy
 
I remember working my first Christams day. It was just my second shift on T-102. Christmas fell on a Sunday that year. I was hired for the overnight shift 6 nights a week. Saturday midnight to 6am Sunday was supposed to be my night off. Our GM came to me and asked if I would cover Jan Michaels' shift because she was a single mom with two small kids at home. I wasn't happy about it, but I obliged. The "bigman" relieved me at 6am that Chritsmas morning. It was the first time I met him. He brought everyone coffee & donuts. I'll never forget what a jovial mood he was in. He made me feel as if I should have been in a better mood all along. Turned out that was the last Christmas day I ever had to work.
When I was little (oops, younger, I was never little) my dad's morning show was broadcast live from our house on Christmas morning. He did that three years. '75, '76' and '81. That was cool. He even played the Chritsmas music right from the house, (no phone drops). There were skipped records and bumped turntables, but what a great experience. The listeners really got a chance to bond with their favorite morning man & his family. I remember we even had calls from listeners to help us figure out how to put together some toys we received from Santa. I have one complete aircheck of the show from '76. It's something I'll always cherish.
 
So maybe I am a bit wacky but I like Christmas tunes of all kinds. So back in the day, when I was still in radio, I was single and worked other states hours from my family’s home. I would volunteer to pull the 6, 9 and yes even 12 hour shifts. It gave the local folks time to spend with their families. As I said I like the music and a few very nice listeners would drop by with goodies or share their holiday stories with me via the phone/on-air. If only back then TNT had the ‘Christmas Story’ marathon, man that would have been sweet! Now that I have weekends off and a non radio gig, I think back to those days fondly every Christmas day as I awake and play Santa for my boys. Happy Holidays to all- to those working, thanks and try to enjoy it!
 
I gotta admit that this time of year brings back a lot of great memories from my radio days and Christmases past, so from that standpoint, working the holiday did bring its own rewards.

Here's one...late on the afternoon of Christmas Eve long ago I walk through our empty sales office and spot a bottle of some cheap wine sitting on a desk, a present for one our sales reps, a lovely(okay, really hot)brunette who was, of course, gone for the big holiday. I'm still on the air, the 6-M guy is due in within a half hour or so. I figure that we can knock off the bottle of wine, and I'll have time to replace it, since she's out for several days. Hot sales rep will never know. Well, she did. I got lazy and failed to replace the wine, and instead went to her and admitted taking it with a promise to buy her a bottle of something a lot better, something without a screw top. I'm really SELLING this to her, I mean "...it was Christmas Eve, and Jim and I were all alone and stuck working, and blah, blah, blah." Out of nowhere she says to me, "Great, you can bring the wine over next week when you come to dinner." I did - we did - and it was one of the best relationships of my life, one that damned near ended in marriage.
 
masterg said:
Christmas was one of the worst, especially if you were a single guy, because those with kids usually got some consideration on Christmas Eve and Day, while it was a given you'd pick up the slack. "You won't mind, you don't have kids, right?"
Click to expand...

Ho Ho Ho! I worked many, many Christmas days and I HAD small kids.
 
My favorite "Working Christmas Eve" was at WBQW in the mid 80's. I had the 6 to Midnight Shift. I loved reading the NORAD report that an object was spotted leaving the North Pole and it was being pulled by something with a shiny red nose (or something along those lines). People would call in to wish me a Merry Christmas and I felt like I was helping to make their holiday special.
 
Childhood memories... Terry McNulty really knew how to sell the "santa sighting" stuff in the very late afternoon at the old WARM. God rest his soul.
 
I always remember the Christmas Night that I was playing a pre-recorded block of Sponsored Christmas Songs... I mean every 1/2 hour was pre-recorded and on reel ready to run Christmas eve and Christmas day...
It was these blocks that were the make or break sales for our station, so they had to be right and please the client. Anyway, I'm doing one that was put, not on reel, but cassette by one of out jocks... this particular 1/2 hour features a closing segemnt with the pre recorded holiday greeting from the company president's daughter... "Merry Christmas to all from the XYZ Brothers Family, and all the Workers at the ABC company!"
We'll I know for a fact this family sits at home and listens to this show every year waithing for this young childs greeting at the end... only this time the cassette runs out just before the greeting... My hearts pumping and I flip the cassette over NOTHING!!!! Now the phone is ringing and I know who it is... an angry Man says the whole family is waiting for this closing greeting and they're angry! What to do.. it's almost midnight, no one else is there to help and now I'm into the next 1/2 hour show and sweating bullits! I run into the office and locate the script for what I think is the close and break into the other show and try to do damage control.... "LADIES & GENTELMEN, DUE TO SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY, WE WHERE UNABLE TO BRING YOU THE SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM LITTLE MARY, BUT AT THIS TIME OF YEAR XYZ BROTHERS NATURAL GAS WANTS TO WISH YOU A HAPPY AND JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON, MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM XYZ BROTHERS NATURAL GAS!" I then go on to read an entire commercial for XYZ Brothers Nartural Gas thinking this might somehow smooth over this disaster! Only to get an immediate phone call from the same guy who is now having a seizure because it's not XYZ Brothers Natural Gas, it's XYZ Brothers Kitchens!!!! The Cassette and log only said XYZ Brothers on it and I grabbed the first copy in the file I could find for XYZ Brothers... I went home shortly after and took my phone off the hook!
 
ericakane said:
You are a bad boy....I Love IT...great story...
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! It will always be a nice romantic memory for me, something to keep me warm in my old age...best of all, it's a true story.
 
I never minded working Christmas day/eve...no kids, and Christmas-with-the-family/in-laws was pretty low on my list of enjoyable activities. The wife would pick up some Chinese take-out (Chinese restaurants are always open Christmas) and we'd have "Christmas dinner" at the station while I was segueing Xmas music. Biggest pain was that half the songs are under 2:00, so you kept busy.
Nowadays, are any stations even staffed on Christmas? Automation pretty much put an end to 12 hour Xmas shifts.
 
In the mid-70s we ran 1/2 hour ETs and taped programs "with thanks to our advertisers who have graciously relinquished their commercial time on this Christmas Day". Of course, the next day those spots were jammed back-to-back.

All went smoothly until the end of a program with Bing Crosby or Bob Hope for some charity. The host wished everyone a "Very Merry Christmas and Happy 1953". No listeners called so we figured they didn't catch the mistake and neither did the owner.
 
Christmas 1996 5:45AM... I'm in WWDL's control room recording ABC News, and I hear a humming from the speakers. Can't figure out where it's coming from. Doug calls in, ready to record the weather, and I smell smoke... AND SEE SMOKE! We first thought it was the AC... LOL... nope. I peek behind the cart machines and look on the floor... the amplifier power source is overheating and smoking. Luckily, I could reach the power switch.

By this time, the whole studio is filled with smoke. I had to open the back and side doors to ventilate the place. Lucky me, it was 10 degrees that morning. Shivered for a good hour after that... couldn't wait til noon to get away from that burnt electric smell.
 
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