You know you are an adult when you think that no one can’t understand your problems. But most of the time, it’s true.

Everyone has a life to worry about. Some people have personal obligations such as a family, kids, parents or even themselves. Regardless, we need to find time to solve them.

But when holidays are around the corner, stress only creeps up even more; in a supposedly festive time, chaos is the only element we get to live with.

Students get stressed because they want to finish the semester as soon as possible. Whether it‘s getting home, finals, or finishing any undone work, it‘s a never-ending set of issues.

What all students want at that point is just to go home to see their loved ones.

Parents don‘t have it much easier though. This factors into my life all the time: how can I afford gifts? Who deserves one or who doesn’t? Are my children good in school? Are they meeting what‘s expected of them? Is my boss going to give me that bonus?

Even for kids, who have nothing to stress about, go through their own moral dilemmas. It can worry about asking “Santa” for the perfect gift or spending time with their parents since many of them can’t enjoy their parents even on holidays since it’s the season when parents work more.

We suppose big holidays like Christmas, New Year Eve, or Thanksgiving are meant to be peaceful and a chance to share with the important people around us. But most of the time, forces outside of our control can rob that from us.

For example, retail stores used to respect Thanksgiving Day and stores were usually open after midnight for Black Friday. However, around seven years ago, stores fought with each other to open as early as possible. And what happens to those families that have a loved one that works in those retail stores? They have Thanksgiving lunch instead of dinner, or even worse, it’s just another regular workday. They can’t enjoy or afford to sit at the table with their family members and give thanks for everything they have.

At Christmas time, stores also open their doors up at midnight, too. All they want to do is make more money, regardless at whose livelihood is involved. Even on Christmas and New Year‘s Eve, the rush never stops. While this is great for the consumer or the owner, the workers are impacted the greatest amount.

When you work in retail stores, you don’t feel that enthusiasm for the holidays anymore. You even hate them sometimes, because customers don’t appreciate the people who work there. They give attitude to cashiers because they do not accept their coupons. They start a fight with the managers because the policy of an item can’t be changed. They do not understand that you are just a worker trying to get by, and that you can’t change the rules just to benefit the consumer.

Everything is just about money and business. Big companies are the ones destroying the image of what a good holiday should be: with family, friends, and everyone in between.