“Let me hear another sound from you,” said Scrooge, “and you’ll keep your Christmas day by losing your situation!”

Ah, Christmas time is here. Sadly, in a time that is supposed to be full of happiness and joy, all too often, people are fraught with worry and anxiety for what the future holds. The Scrooges of the world sacrifice generosity for the all important bottom line, while bereft workers scrounge up whatever pitiful strands of Christmas spirit they can muster when faced with the loss of jobs, benefits, and a sense of security, however tenuous.

Corporate Scrooges fire at will, not only wounding their target, but leaving those within earshot quivering with fear that they might be next. They invoke the spirit of old Ebenezer by using arcane words such as corporate restructuring, downsizing, position elimination, redundancy and the ultimate unforgivable curse, termination. These words are certainly lacking the warmth of human kindness, but to use them during this particular time of year seems utterly cold and hopelessly heartless. It makes one wonder what is going through the heads of those bestowing these particular curses and how can they sleep at night? Will they be visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve to point out the error of their ways? They should be.

The stress of a job loss is made even worse when it occurs during the holiday season. Not only is there the anxiety of making the daily bread – now throw in the Christmas feast. Imagine shopping for presents, knowing that the money stream is about to go dry. Imagine the dismay of empty stockings and a bare floor beneath the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Imagine not being able to provide and having that mirrored ten times in the accusatory eyes of a spouse or the disappointed eyes of children. Or even worse, in the well-meaning but patronizing eyes of friends who will pat you on the back and say, “That’s okay; you didn’t have to get me anything.”

That sounds harsh, so I will amend. Friends and family may be supportive and sincere in saying that a no presents policy is fine. All of the Who’s in Who-ville may very well stand around the tree and sing “fah who for-aze” after the Grinch has stolen the roast beast, but that does not stop one’s desire to be able to furnish an abundant Christmas anyway.

It is not only the fear of a sparse Christmas day that is anxiety provoking in the newly jobless. There is the whole spirit of the season thing to contend with. Instead of sugarplums, there are negative feelings of anger, disappointment, sadness, self-doubt, and worry dancing in your head. Suppressing these feelings is a stressful process, like building a dam against a maelstrom of emotion.