Christmas work becomes tradition

In restaurants, hotels, theaters, hospitals and ambulances, duties call even on a holiday but carry their own rewards

Every year, Graham Boltz misses Christmas morning with his family. He misses opening gifts with his younger brother and the Christmas breakfast with his grandparents, but the worst part is that Christmas is also his mother's birthday.

That's because Boltz is usually working on Christmas Day.

This year, Boltz was running around the parking lot at Sam Choy's restaurant, where he works as a valet, as his family celebrated the holiday without him.

"They're probably opening all my presents for me," said Boltz, 30, of Hawaii Kai. "It's Christmas. You'd rather have the day off and be at home with the family."

For many Christmases and holidays, Boltz had to work and watch families spend the day together instead of being with his own. Like many others, Boltz has a job where people have to work all year round.

For those who work in law enforcement, public safety, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, public transportation and media organizations, work doesn't stop because it's a holiday.

And for the same group of people, they'll also have to work today, which the government officially recognizes as a holiday. Federal and state buildings will be closed, as well as banks and many stores.

Caitlin Kaneshiro, 10, is already used to having her parents work on the holidays, with her mother working in a hospital emergency room and her father in Emergency Medical Services.

Caitlin woke up her parents at 5 a.m. yesterday. They unwrapped gifts together and cleaned the house for a big family party last night. But at 3 p.m., Jason Kaneshiro had to leave for work. He tried to get the evening off for the party but couldn't.

"It's hard, especially when everyone just came over and I had to go to work," said Jason Kaneshiro, an EMS district chief.

Christmas has become like any other day of the year for those who constantly have to work on holidays, said Miki Hussey, a server at Sam Choy's Restaurant.

She has had to work every Christmas since she was 18 years old. Because it's pretty much a guarantee that Hussey will have to work on Christmas, her family celebrates with a big dinner on Christmas Eve. When people work in the restaurant business, holidays are an even busier time because many families go out to eat, she said.

But for 17-year-old John Wilcox, Christmas was always a sacred day, where he could spend the whole time with his family. This year, it was his first time he had to work Christmas and the first time they broke family tradition.

His family -- including his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents -- always went to the movies on Christmas morning. Wilcox still went to the movies in the morning, but this year, he went to work as a concessions attendant at Ward Consolidated Theatres.

"My mom told me to call in sick," said Wilcox, of Makiki. "I knew I couldn't because they would fire me."

There are some upsides to working on Christmas. Many private businesses offer their employees holiday pay. Some restaurants are busier with bigger parties, meaning servers receive better tips. And there's less traffic on the road, Kaneshiro added.

Michael Gilleres, a bellman at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, has been working in the hotel industry for 20 years and has never complained about working on Christmas.

"People are so happy because they had a wonderful Christmas in Hawaii," said Gilleres, 48, "or they're so excited to be coming here for a warm Christmas. The Christmas spirit is alive, coming or going."