Dec. 25 just another workday for some

What's worse than being alone on Christmas? Being stuck at work.

It's not all that bad, though, according to Tiffani Hildebrand, 26, who will be spending Christmas Eve working at Villa di Roma in Rockford.

This will be Hildebrand's first holiday shift at the restaurant, and she expects to work until midnight.

"It should be just another workday, because we're busy all the time," Hildebrand said.

We're just doing some extra preparation when we first come to work so we'll be ready for anything."

After her shift wraps, she'll head home to wrap presents for her two sons to open on Christmas Day.

"When I go home from work, my kids will be sleeping, so we're just doing everything on Christmas this year," Hildebrand said.

Sometimes, it doesn't even have to be the holidays for work to be a madhouse.

Julie Quigley, 25, an X-ray technician at SwedishAmerican Hospital, will be working Christmas Day for the second year in a row.

She's already getting plenty of practice for a potentially hectic day by working some shifts this week in the emergency room, where she'll be stationed on Christmas. Last year she worked Christmas to free up her New Year's Eve, which she usually celebrates with a night out. Christmas will be the last holiday she has to work this year.

Her shift ends at 3:30 p.m., giving her time to celebrate Christmas with her fiance and avoid what is typically a busy night treating people with a little too much spirit in their holiday.

"Hopefully it will be nice and quiet and we can just eat and hang out," Quigley said.

Rockford Register Star