Christmas Spirit (and lack of)

I’ve arranged a little something for my staff for Christmas. We’re all going out to a Chinese restaurant on an all-you-can-eat evening special. A little more pricey than buying them a box of chocolates, but much more heartfelt, I’m sure you’ll agree. They’ve been great all year, and between them they’re covering my wedding break so I feel I owe them a big thank you. A table of twelve at £8.99 each isn’t going to bankrupt me is it? I’m not going to let them bring partners though, that would be far too generous, even for me.
It’s got me into trouble with my superiors. How dare I for arrange ONE EVENING THIS YEAR when all the staff will be off? Bastards. Thankfully my old mentor/comrade Mac (who did my training last year and has been a constant source of companionship and information) offered to cover it for me, so there’s an experienced manager on site til close-up. Again, this was frowned upon by Head Office, but Mac said “f**k ‘em” and I agreed wholeheartedly. I’ve improved the efficiency of the garage and profits are up in every possible way so if they can’t give me leeway to treat my staff AT MY OWN EXPENSE, NOT THEIRS, then they can stuff themselves like a Christmas turkey.

RC 11-11-15