Hello Ladies and Gents of Hive,
I joined Hive in June 2024, and I did not come looking for a platform. I came looking for somewhere my words could land softly. Somewhere grief could exhale. Somewhere a stranger could feel like a neighbour for a moment. This community gave me that. Thank you❤️
So when I read Question 1 for Contest 268, it stopped me:
Some people do not get a holiday.
They get a shift.
This is my first December holiday in years.
And I keep catching myself listening for the sound of work.
Not because I love stress.
Because my body got used to December meaning duty.
It started in retail.
Cashier.
Fluorescent lights. Cold air from the fridges. A queue that grows teeth.
Beep. Bag. Beep. Bag.
The same song playing until it stops sounding like music and starts sounding like time.
Customers would say, “Shame, you’re working today.”
Then they would hand me a trolley full of last minute choices, and look past my face like I was part of the machine.
Then I became the manager.
Different role. Same pressure.
Now I was carrying other people too.
Watching who was fading. Who needed water. Who needed five minutes in the back room to remember they were human.
A till would freeze. A customer would not.
And I learnt this: morale is not a motivational speech.
Morale is a break that actually happens.
Morale is someone saying, “I’ve got you,” and proving it.
Then I moved into tech and built a community for women in tech.
I funded it myself. Not because I had spare money, but because I had a stubborn kind of hope.
Two years ago, feeling the pressure of yet another hustle, I took a startup “contract”. For nine months we built, we shipped, we kept going.
Then we were told they could not pay us.
Have tou ever found yourself in that weird inbetween - not knowing what was next by myself
Who can plan a holiday like that.
When your mind is doing maths at midnight.
When you calculate groceries like a spreadsheet.
When December shows you lights and you are counting bread.
So I pivoted.
Not the glossy kind.
The necessary kind.
The “girl’s-gotta-keep-the-lights-on” kind.
The kind where you choose stability without calling it failure.
So then came the job in tech.
And because software developers always have one more fix;
One more urgent message. One more “can you just”…
… having Slack, email, meetings on both mobile and desktop and toggling what feels like a million tabs was a habit that became my norm workifn right through December last year.
And now it makes me ask: what is essential work, really?
Who does it? Who is keeping the lights on?
It is the mother tending children while the pot boils and the day runs away.
It is the father holding the household steady while his wife is on shift.
It is the single parent doing both, quietly, with no applause.
It is the grandmother who steps in without being asked.
Is it the one who has to cover all the shifts because…
So this is my thank you to every person carrying a shift this December, whether it is paid work or home work.
So who will you notice this week? And what small thing will you do to lighten the load?
I will:
- Be patient with them.
- Be kind to them.
- Save them a plate.
- Send the message before the shift.
- Say thank you from your soul.
Because sometimes the only gift a working person gets is being noticed, being appreciated, being seen and heard.
Here’s to the one who keep the lights on long after Christmas.
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