] In fact, the three busiest days for support lines are the day
] after Christmas, the Monday after Christmas and the Monday
] after New Year's, said Jim Kahler, North American consumer
] support manager for Hewlett-Packard.

One has to wonder about what would happen if Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year were more evenly spaced apart. It seems like December is carefully crafted as the most stressful time of the year, where it perhaps does have to be. Massive consumer shopping and shipping means lots of spending and lots of seasonal jobs. Celebrations of Christmas and New Years means at least two days off, generally more -- the days between are generally seen as bonus holidays. And then we've got all the other New Year's issues such as a last call for taxable events. And college applications. And so on.

] Every employee in the WebTV division had to come in and
] work the support lines. Luckily, someone remembered to
] bring in a spiked bowl of eggnog, which made it easier
] for support personnel to stay calm when dealing with
] irate subscribers, he said.

Maybe we should make it policy to supply our support lines with a bar?