Bonus holiday? Always a tough call

Thursday - 12/19/2013, 2:00am EST

December can be the cruelest month for any President. This year, there is the problem of what to do about Syria, Iran and China. How's the Affordable Care Act going and what is Vice President Joe Biden going to say next?





But when Christmas is a Wednesday, as it is this year, it presents special problems. Some political, some logistical. In a year when you've had furloughs and shutdowns, do you carry on and give feds some time off? If so, when and how much? Often (but not always) when Christmas is a Wednesday, presidents have given workers a half day off.



So there is no rule of thumb.

It is during the Christmas season that employees of the U.S. Postal Service are reminded how different they are (in some ways) from their white-collar colleagues. Most postal employees, letter carriers, clerks, mail handlers and other craft employees usually don't get any extra time off, unless they take it.



Compiled by Jack Moore

Elves first became linked with Santa Claus in the 1823 Clement Clarke Moore classic poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," in which Jolly Old St. Nick is referred to as a "jolly old elf," himself. It wasn't until an 1857 poem in "Harper's Weekly," which included a few lines about the elves working to make "cakes, sugar-plums, and toys," that the little sprites gained a reputation for being Santa's little helpers.

(Source: LiveScience)


