SAN DIEGO, CA — With the last hours of the Christmas and New Year's seasons ticking away, a local man found himself looking forward to the coming peace and quiet he will experience when returning to work after the holiday break.
"It will be so wonderful to go back to the seemingly endless, daily grind of my job after this period of noise and chaos," said Lloyd Braun as his children ran screaming in circles around him. "It's important to have a break from celebrating and weathering daily hurricanes in the living room."
Braun had initially fallen into the annual trap of looking forward to the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's holiday season, thinking it would be a wonderful time of relaxation and offer an opportunity to recharge his batteries at the end of the year. Unbeknownst to him, his wife had been looking forward to his time off from work, taking opportunities each day to "get some stuff done" while he was available to stay with the kids.
Before long, Braun found himself longing for the stress of his job. "I really find myself missing the endless meetings, frustrations with coworkers, and unreasonable expectations I deal with at work," he said.
At publishing time, Braun was excitedly packing up his briefcase, laying out his outfit for his first day back at work, eagerly looking at his upcoming work calendar, and dreaming of the time he would have to spend sitting in his car in heavy traffic during his morning and evening commutes to and from the office.
Citing concerns about stiff competition from Amazon and an impossible-to-please Gen Z, Santa has announced he's hanging up the hat for good.
