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I experienced this working in retail during the holiday season back when I was in college. The little bell intro to Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is

I experienced this working in retail during the holiday season back when I was in college. The little bell intro to Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You", will forever haunt my dreams. I rarely listen to Christmas music anymore because of that experience. Nowadays, I get irritated when I've burned through a 2 hour playlist twice at work and need to find something else to listen to, but I totally take the ability to change my music for granted.

balabaster 8y ago
I moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago this September. Back in High School and University, I worked retail for about 5 years or so. By the time I left, I haaaaaated Christmas music. Couldn't stand it. Now after 20 years in Canada, I really miss it. Nothing here is the same as it is in the UK when it comes to Christmas traditions. There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same. Everything that made Christmas Christmas to me is missing. For everything I love about living in Canada, that's been the hardest thing about living here instead of where I grew up. I actually have a Christmas playlist made up entirely of Christmas songs from when I was a kid to try and kick start my Christmas mood when the season rolls around :D
- rovyko 8y ago
  >There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same Growing up in Canada, I thought carolers and olde-timey Christmas themes only happened in movies these days. Are these traditions still alive in the UK?
  - balabaster 8y ago
    Well, obviously I've been gone for 20 years, so I can't speak to whether they still happen but growing up in the village I did, they happened every year without fail. Some years we'd go with them, other years we'd stay home and have hot mulled wine to offer them when they came around. Another thing I struggled to find this year in my local area was midnight mass. This just doesn't seem to be a big thing here either. The best I could find was a 10pm mass, which just doesn't seem to cut the mustard... plus what's with the singing carols to the wrong tunes?
  - alex_anglin 8y ago
    Canadian here and these happen in my neighborhood. YMMY elsewhere, as OP has mentioned.
    - balabaster 8y ago
      Canada is a big place, which city are you in?
      - werdnapk 8y ago
        One of my family members would go with a group caroling in Winnipeg.
  - eftychis 8y ago
    Not only in the UK. Carolers are a thing in other places of Europe, for instance Greece.
    - icebraining 8y ago
      In Portugal we have "singing the kings" in the first days of January, and traditionally people shared the Christmas food and drinks with them. https://youtu.be/JlBnLlKPPGA?t=11 https://youtu.be/JlBnLlKPPGA?t=11
  - anongraddebt 8y ago
    U.S here. I know carolers who get together and go through hospitals and retirement communities. Definitely a nice way for children and teenagers (who come with) to learn about giving back to a community.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - Balero 8y ago
    Lived in the UK for a few decades. Have never seen a carolers. Thought they were a weird USA thing.
  - stordoff 8y ago
    I can't say they're common, but they definitely happen. We usually get 1 or 2 small groups each year.
  - jdietrich 8y ago
    Carolling largely follows a bimodal distribution based on social class. It's still reasonably common among lower-working-class kids looking for a bit of extra pocket money before Christmas; for similar reasons, they're the last stalwarts of the penny-for-the-guy tradition. It's very common for those at the upper reaches of the middle class, who have a real penchant for old-fashioned community activities like choirs, fetes and street parties. It's all but dead for the majority in the middle. Speaking more broadly, there has been an effort in many rural areas to maintain and revive particular local cultural traditions. Perhaps the most spectacular such tradition is the tar barrels in Ottery St Mary[1], but I'm also rather fond of the Royal Ashborne Shrovetide Football game[2] and the multitude of mumming and wassailing traditions[3]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-0wQmPeMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-0wQmPeMg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uV1zrZFzZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uV1zrZFzZo [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDaRQO5Utk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDaRQO5Utk
    - balabaster 8y ago
      How on earth did the Tar Barrels become a tradition?! :o and the Shrovetide Football with only 1 rule?! :'D That's insane! Only in England! I miss you guys :D
- Chris_Chambers 8y ago
  I’m stunned that you believe those heartwarming traditions common in the UK 20 years ago would still exist today after everything that’s been happening.
- bryanlarsen 8y ago
  > no carolers Grab a couple of neighbors and go caroling yourself. In my experience it can snowball quite rapidly if somebody actually gets it rolling...
  - balabaster 8y ago
    Nice! I may try that next year. I could be amusing to do that around our village.
- fredophile 8y ago
  Carolers aren't common in Canada but they aren't unheard of. Different places will have different Christmas traditions so you're unlikely to ever get the same smells and shops. If you miss carolers I'd suggest you try getting a small group together and go out caroling.
- roel_v 8y ago
  My children are in a primary school level 'English as a second language' program in Australia right now, and my son got a 'Spot's first Christmas' book to take home to read yesterday. So then I had to explain what 'Christmas carolers' are, and why they would be at Spot's door if they're only a thing on the other side of the world? And also - snow? In December, at the height of summer? So that quickly devolved into a long story on colonialism, British world dominance of yore, and what a 'pommy' is . Ah that Spot.
  - crooked-v 8y ago
    In December I took a trip to southern California, and it struck me as really bizarre to have these songs on local radio repeatedly mentioning snow when it was a relaxed 70°F (≈21°C) on Christmas Day.
    - labster 8y ago
      Most of those stations transmit up into Big Bear where there is snow. But yeah, most snow in LA is added by movie magic.
rurp 8y ago
I hate the omnipresent Christmas music in stores around the holidays, but had never linked that to the fact that I worked in a store through college that repeatedly played the same music. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably had the same experience as you. Thanks for the insight!
- brokenmachine 8y ago
  I've never worked retail, only been a customer, and I hate christmas music in stores. Playing christmas music is surely the quickest way to drive me away from your store.
ravenstine 8y ago
I was once in charge of the electronics department for a retail store, except for whatever music my bosses wanted to have playing over the speakers. It was one CD with a mix of pop and hip hop. They never would change it, so I decided to commandeer the stereo as I just couldn't handle the repetition anymore. I played new music we got in, both alternative and what was popular. The customers seemed fine with it, and I was happy. They did not like this. For whatever reason, which they refused to explain to me, they insisted I played their stupid mix that had been playing for months. As I was given no good reason, and was paid minimum wage, I just kept doing my thing and playing newer and better music. One day I showed up and they had duct-taped the lid of the CD tray to the stereo so no one could open it with a note in all caps saying "DO NOT CHANGE THE CD IN THIS STEREO". I promptly went to the hardware aisle, got a box cutter, and sliced that son'bitch open, this time chucking their CD in the garbage, and continued on being DJ. They gave up after that. lol And surprisingly they didn't fire me, even though they could have easily replaced me with some younger kid who would have done whatever they wanted. But I quit soon after since the holidays had come and I knew I was going to have to play "Jingle Bells Rock" a thousand times, and I knew I couldn't really get out of that. When my boss asked me why I was quitting, I said "I found a better job."
- xg15 8y ago
  > They did not like this. For whatever reason, which they refused to explain to me, they insisted I played their stupid mix that had been playing for months. Could licensing have been the reason? Not sure about the US, but in Europe, you frequently need a separate license to play songs in stores, bars or really any kind of public venue. I imagine this is probably even stricted in the US. So the crappy mix might have been the only thing they had bothered buying licenses for - and they might have been afraid to get sued when playing anything else. I still can feel the pain though, and I have no idea why the bosses didn't even bother to give a reason. So I guess quitting was the best thing to do.
  - empath75 8y ago
    A friend of mine made more money from licensing a single song to Armani stores than he made from the entire rest of his sales put together.
Bluecobra 8y ago
I feel you, I used to work in a hardware store and would loathe when it came time to switch over to the repetitive Christmas music. Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" is my most cringeworthy song. Argh that syth intro...
- mixmastamyk 8y ago
  Simply having…
chobytes 8y ago
I had a similar experience working at Macys during the holidays many years ago. I had to listen to about 100 different versions of whatever that “last christmas I gave you my heart” song is every day, and to this day it drives me bonkers when I hear it.
- mixmastamyk 8y ago
  Wham, that’s a good one, in small doses.
sli 8y ago
When I worked at Radio Shack and they mandated that we play Christmas music all the time after Halloween, I'd switch it to one of SomaFM's more casual Christmas stations (Xmas in Frisko) when the boss wasn't around. No one ever noticed except for us employees, and it was so, soooo much better than hours of the same five songs on repeat.
- mgkimsal 8y ago
  no doubt your brazen cavalier attitude towards corporate rules were the prime reason behind radio shack's downfall. corporate had it just right, except for those pesky employees failing to follow their edicts. Good thing you're using a pseudonym!
city41 8y ago
I worked at a toy store for a couple years and had to endure The Goof Troop movie on repeat all day as well as a toy crate at the counter that would vibrate and say “Excuse me!? Can you let me out of here!??” Just thinking about this toy now makes me feel a little sick. But what I find interesting is back then you just put up with it. Awful repetition was just an accepted part of a minimum wage job then. Nowadays, we question everything. I do think our questioning is a good thing though.
hateful 8y ago
I walked out of at least 3 restaurants this "season" because they had Christmas music on. Can't stand it.
TuringNYC 8y ago
I flew on the same international airline for business dozens of times and they always had the same tune on for the first hour during boarding/etc and then again during landing. I've now developed a bad Pavlovian response to that track because it is associated with brutal long-haul travel, jetlag, dry air, customs hassles, etc. Note: I then got Gold/Platinum ranking, started boarding sooner, and so got exposed to the music even more! Note 2: International flights have much longer boarding periods and usually large plans, so the time intro music is played is long.
- peterarmstrong 8y ago
  ANA theme music? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4fm_kO1us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4fm_kO1us
1auralynn 8y ago
I worked at a Macy's in college one holiday season, right across the aisle from the dancing santas that alternated their tinny versions of "rockin around the christmas tree" and "jingle bell rock". The tinny sounds on top of the general background muzak was extra-insanity-inducing. One day after being at work for 10 hours I got in my car and jingle bell rock came on and I totally broke down crying. I've a lot of sympathy for retail people since then.
- nyolfen 8y ago
  https://youtu.be/hTcfDX1NvMk?t=54 https://youtu.be/hTcfDX1NvMk?t=54 (i promise it's not jingle bell rock)
zouhair 8y ago
Get an android phone with a 128GB sd card and fill it.
Corrado 8y ago
"40 Year Old Virgin - Michael McDonald Scene" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRdLWbOAUEY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRdLWbOAUEY This movie was ahead of it's time. :)

balabaster 8y ago

I moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago this September. Back in High School and University, I worked retail for about 5 years or so. By the time I left, I haaaaaated Christmas music. Couldn't stand it. Now after 20 years in Canada, I really miss it. Nothing here is the same as it is in the UK when it comes to Christmas traditions. There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same. Everything that made Christmas Christmas to me is missing. For everything I love about living in Canada, that's been the hardest thing about living here instead of where I grew up. I actually have a Christmas playlist made up entirely of Christmas songs from when I was a kid to try and kick start my Christmas mood when the season rolls around :D

rovyko 8y ago
>There's no carolers, the smells aren't the same, the shops aren't the same Growing up in Canada, I thought carolers and olde-timey Christmas themes only happened in movies these days. Are these traditions still alive in the UK?
- balabaster 8y ago
  Well, obviously I've been gone for 20 years, so I can't speak to whether they still happen but growing up in the village I did, they happened every year without fail. Some years we'd go with them, other years we'd stay home and have hot mulled wine to offer them when they came around. Another thing I struggled to find this year in my local area was midnight mass. This just doesn't seem to be a big thing here either. The best I could find was a 10pm mass, which just doesn't seem to cut the mustard... plus what's with the singing carols to the wrong tunes?
- alex_anglin 8y ago
  Canadian here and these happen in my neighborhood. YMMY elsewhere, as OP has mentioned.
  - balabaster 8y ago
    Canada is a big place, which city are you in?
    - werdnapk 8y ago
      One of my family members would go with a group caroling in Winnipeg.
- eftychis 8y ago
  Not only in the UK. Carolers are a thing in other places of Europe, for instance Greece.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    In Portugal we have "singing the kings" in the first days of January, and traditionally people shared the Christmas food and drinks with them. https://youtu.be/JlBnLlKPPGA?t=11 https://youtu.be/JlBnLlKPPGA?t=11
- anongraddebt 8y ago
  U.S here. I know carolers who get together and go through hospitals and retirement communities. Definitely a nice way for children and teenagers (who come with) to learn about giving back to a community.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- Balero 8y ago
  Lived in the UK for a few decades. Have never seen a carolers. Thought they were a weird USA thing.
- stordoff 8y ago
  I can't say they're common, but they definitely happen. We usually get 1 or 2 small groups each year.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  Carolling largely follows a bimodal distribution based on social class. It's still reasonably common among lower-working-class kids looking for a bit of extra pocket money before Christmas; for similar reasons, they're the last stalwarts of the penny-for-the-guy tradition. It's very common for those at the upper reaches of the middle class, who have a real penchant for old-fashioned community activities like choirs, fetes and street parties. It's all but dead for the majority in the middle. Speaking more broadly, there has been an effort in many rural areas to maintain and revive particular local cultural traditions. Perhaps the most spectacular such tradition is the tar barrels in Ottery St Mary[1], but I'm also rather fond of the Royal Ashborne Shrovetide Football game[2] and the multitude of mumming and wassailing traditions[3]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-0wQmPeMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-0wQmPeMg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uV1zrZFzZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uV1zrZFzZo [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDaRQO5Utk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEDaRQO5Utk
  - balabaster 8y ago
    How on earth did the Tar Barrels become a tradition?! :o and the Shrovetide Football with only 1 rule?! :'D That's insane! Only in England! I miss you guys :D
Chris_Chambers 8y ago
I’m stunned that you believe those heartwarming traditions common in the UK 20 years ago would still exist today after everything that’s been happening.
bryanlarsen 8y ago
> no carolers Grab a couple of neighbors and go caroling yourself. In my experience it can snowball quite rapidly if somebody actually gets it rolling...
- balabaster 8y ago
  Nice! I may try that next year. I could be amusing to do that around our village.
fredophile 8y ago
Carolers aren't common in Canada but they aren't unheard of. Different places will have different Christmas traditions so you're unlikely to ever get the same smells and shops. If you miss carolers I'd suggest you try getting a small group together and go out caroling.
roel_v 8y ago
My children are in a primary school level 'English as a second language' program in Australia right now, and my son got a 'Spot's first Christmas' book to take home to read yesterday. So then I had to explain what 'Christmas carolers' are, and why they would be at Spot's door if they're only a thing on the other side of the world? And also - snow? In December, at the height of summer? So that quickly devolved into a long story on colonialism, British world dominance of yore, and what a 'pommy' is . Ah that Spot.
- crooked-v 8y ago
  In December I took a trip to southern California, and it struck me as really bizarre to have these songs on local radio repeatedly mentioning snow when it was a relaxed 70°F (≈21°C) on Christmas Day.
  - labster 8y ago
    Most of those stations transmit up into Big Bear where there is snow. But yeah, most snow in LA is added by movie magic.

rurp 8y ago

I hate the omnipresent Christmas music in stores around the holidays, but had never linked that to the fact that I worked in a store through college that repeatedly played the same music. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably had the same experience as you. Thanks for the insight!

brokenmachine 8y ago
I've never worked retail, only been a customer, and I hate christmas music in stores. Playing christmas music is surely the quickest way to drive me away from your store.

ravenstine 8y ago

I was once in charge of the electronics department for a retail store, except for whatever music my bosses wanted to have playing over the speakers. It was one CD with a mix of pop and hip hop. They never would change it, so I decided to commandeer the stereo as I just couldn't handle the repetition anymore. I played new music we got in, both alternative and what was popular. The customers seemed fine with it, and I was happy. They did not like this. For whatever reason, which they refused to explain to me, they insisted I played their stupid mix that had been playing for months. As I was given no good reason, and was paid minimum wage, I just kept doing my thing and playing newer and better music. One day I showed up and they had duct-taped the lid of the CD tray to the stereo so no one could open it with a note in all caps saying "DO NOT CHANGE THE CD IN THIS STEREO". I promptly went to the hardware aisle, got a box cutter, and sliced that son'bitch open, this time chucking their CD in the garbage, and continued on being DJ. They gave up after that. lol And surprisingly they didn't fire me, even though they could have easily replaced me with some younger kid who would have done whatever they wanted. But I quit soon after since the holidays had come and I knew I was going to have to play "Jingle Bells Rock" a thousand times, and I knew I couldn't really get out of that. When my boss asked me why I was quitting, I said "I found a better job."

xg15 8y ago
> They did not like this. For whatever reason, which they refused to explain to me, they insisted I played their stupid mix that had been playing for months. Could licensing have been the reason? Not sure about the US, but in Europe, you frequently need a separate license to play songs in stores, bars or really any kind of public venue. I imagine this is probably even stricted in the US. So the crappy mix might have been the only thing they had bothered buying licenses for - and they might have been afraid to get sued when playing anything else. I still can feel the pain though, and I have no idea why the bosses didn't even bother to give a reason. So I guess quitting was the best thing to do.
- empath75 8y ago
  A friend of mine made more money from licensing a single song to Armani stores than he made from the entire rest of his sales put together.

Bluecobra 8y ago

I feel you, I used to work in a hardware store and would loathe when it came time to switch over to the repetitive Christmas music. Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" is my most cringeworthy song. Argh that syth intro...

mixmastamyk 8y ago
Simply having…

chobytes 8y ago

I had a similar experience working at Macys during the holidays many years ago. I had to listen to about 100 different versions of whatever that “last christmas I gave you my heart” song is every day, and to this day it drives me bonkers when I hear it.

mixmastamyk 8y ago
Wham, that’s a good one, in small doses.

sli 8y ago

When I worked at Radio Shack and they mandated that we play Christmas music all the time after Halloween, I'd switch it to one of SomaFM's more casual Christmas stations (Xmas in Frisko) when the boss wasn't around. No one ever noticed except for us employees, and it was so, soooo much better than hours of the same five songs on repeat.

mgkimsal 8y ago
no doubt your brazen cavalier attitude towards corporate rules were the prime reason behind radio shack's downfall. corporate had it just right, except for those pesky employees failing to follow their edicts. Good thing you're using a pseudonym!

city41 8y ago

I worked at a toy store for a couple years and had to endure The Goof Troop movie on repeat all day as well as a toy crate at the counter that would vibrate and say “Excuse me!? Can you let me out of here!??” Just thinking about this toy now makes me feel a little sick. But what I find interesting is back then you just put up with it. Awful repetition was just an accepted part of a minimum wage job then. Nowadays, we question everything. I do think our questioning is a good thing though.

hateful 8y ago

I walked out of at least 3 restaurants this "season" because they had Christmas music on. Can't stand it.

TuringNYC 8y ago

I flew on the same international airline for business dozens of times and they always had the same tune on for the first hour during boarding/etc and then again during landing. I've now developed a bad Pavlovian response to that track because it is associated with brutal long-haul travel, jetlag, dry air, customs hassles, etc. Note: I then got Gold/Platinum ranking, started boarding sooner, and so got exposed to the music even more! Note 2: International flights have much longer boarding periods and usually large plans, so the time intro music is played is long.

peterarmstrong 8y ago
ANA theme music? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4fm_kO1us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4fm_kO1us

1auralynn 8y ago

I worked at a Macy's in college one holiday season, right across the aisle from the dancing santas that alternated their tinny versions of "rockin around the christmas tree" and "jingle bell rock". The tinny sounds on top of the general background muzak was extra-insanity-inducing. One day after being at work for 10 hours I got in my car and jingle bell rock came on and I totally broke down crying. I've a lot of sympathy for retail people since then.

nyolfen 8y ago
https://youtu.be/hTcfDX1NvMk?t=54 https://youtu.be/hTcfDX1NvMk?t=54 (i promise it's not jingle bell rock)

zouhair 8y ago

Get an android phone with a 128GB sd card and fill it.

Corrado 8y ago

"40 Year Old Virgin - Michael McDonald Scene" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRdLWbOAUEY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRdLWbOAUEY This movie was ahead of it's time. :)