Secret Santa

I'm certain my grandfather didn't have them when he worked, and I doubt my father did either. In those days, especially my grandfathers' days, people tended to work for the same company for much of their working life. They lived and breathed that company and when they retired they had a pension and a fairly comfortable retirement.

What they didn't have at their workplace were Secret Santas. Just guessing, but I imagine they would have found the idea silly. Back then families were closer - extended ones within the same city. And work was where you did work - real work, on assembly lines in loud factories. My grandfather worked for General Motors in Milwaukee. On his lunch break, at least in the warm months, he and his co-workers would sit outside the plant - on the sidewalk. They ate their lunch and drank a pail of beer they got from the corner tavern. They smoked and they drank and they carried their lunches in pails and they worked hard. And, in most cases, the company took care of them - treated them fairly and didn't forget them after they retried.

Things are slightly different now. Most people work soft, dull jobs and they change them often. For most there are no pensions and life-long health care. There are IRA's, if they choose, and food courts that all serve the same sad fare. And nearly anonymous birthday cards are given and the holidays are observed with Secret Santas and over-stressed Visa's and mailing packages home. Wherever that may be.