While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I certainly don’t begrudge my friends or family members who do. That said, this story struck a chord with me.
Labor unions in the Czech Republic demanded Monday that stores stop playing Christmas carols incessantly or pay compensation for causing emotional trauma to sales clerks.
Some stores here play the same songs all day — and play them loudly. Employees say shifts have become unbearable.
“To listen to it for eight hours a day is not healthy, that’s for sure,” said Alexandr Leiner, a union leader. “And for the customers, it’s almost unbearable as well.”
[…]
Unions in neighboring Austria have lodged similar complaints against stores there. Labor unions are pressing stores to stop the incessant playing of carols, denouncing the practice as “psychological terrorism” that grates the ears of shop employees.
“They become aggressive and develop an aversion to Christmas music,” said Gottfried Rieser, a leader of the campaign. “It gets to the point where on Christmas Eve, when they’re at home with their families, they can’t stand ‘Silent Night’ or ‘Jingle Bells’ one more time.”
Amen.