What Am I Doing Christmas Weekend?

MERRY CHRISTMAS                        HAPPY HANNUKAH

On Saturday night my wife is making a very good dinner, but Friday, Saturday and Christmas Day I'm going to be driving people around as I usually do on the weekend. A few years ago, my wife and I both drove on Christmas in Charleston and it was busy despite everything being closed. I expect to be pretty busy in Charleston this Sunday and I'm going to make sure it's a fun day. 

Driving on the holiday weekend is going to be a little different.  My second published article came out recently and it was about driving during the holidays. In writing the article, I pretended to interview another driver, Ebeneezer, and we discussed what drivers could do on the holidays.  Below is part of my discussion with him:

Ebeneezer: What do you do during the holiday season for riders?

Me: Spreading good cheer and putting riders in a good mood, is something that I do all year long. I don’t decorate my car for the holidays, because I already have a bunch of things displayed to entertain riders. I’ll put up a sign that says, “Happy Holidays,” and I’ll wish riders a good holiday or Christmas. I’ll ask if they have any special plans, and we’ll talk about it. I’ve never even played Christmas music in my car. (I did write a pretty good Christmas song once) But I do give out a little gift to some riders. I always come out with my list of favorite rider comments of the year mid-December. Many riders start laughing when I tell them I’m going to give them a gift.

RIDERS ENJOY GETTING SOMETHING THEY DON’T EXPECT.

Ebeneezer: You’re not going to do anything different?

I’m going to get creative and make a big effort just to show you there are a lot of possibilities.  An easy thing to do is to have Christmas music playing in the background and I’ll ask if they’ve heard too much of it or if they’d like to hear some Christmas music.  I’m going to get a few gift certificates from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts of $3-$5 and give them out Christmas weekend. I’ll hang them in my car so riders can see them, and I’ll tell them what it is. I have not heard a single good holiday story from a rider over the years, maybe the riders with the best holiday stories will get the gift certificates?

I’ll ask some of the riders, “What does the holiday season mean to you?” Since I’m Jewish and celebrate Hannukah and Christmas, I have a different perspective to share. (Hannukah is from the 18^th-25^th.) I’m going to borrow an idea from a driver in Las Vegas who writes a personal note to each rider and I’m going to write in advance some special wishes and give them out, maybe to all of my riders Christmas weekend?

Below are the four Dunkin Donut gift certificates I am giving out and one of the personal notes I'm going to give to my riders. And, my new 2022 favorite rider comment list will be given out for the first time.  "Tis the season to be jolly......."

Does this drawing look like me?