NEW ORLEANS — The soulful sounds of Christmas fill the air at Jackson Square as trombonist Glen David Andrews and his band partake in a tradition dating back decades.
“This has been a tradition that started with Tuba Fats over 40 years ago, so the band has always been right here on Christmas Day in Jackson Square,” said Andrews.
Andrews is just one of the many New Orleanians working this Christmas. Although, it’s hard to tell this is work because the band is having so much fun entertaining tourists and locals alike.
“I got my family here, everybody from the Treme neighborhood, and we are celebrating Christmas in New Orleans,” said Andrews.
On the other side of the square, there is work of a different kind this Christmas.
“What is it like working on Christmas,” WWLTV’s Paul Dudley asks Ron Adonis as they both sit atop his carriage. “It’s rewarding,” replied Adonis.
This is Adonis’s retirement job. He doesn’t really call it "work."
“There are a lot of things I like about it, but what I like most of all is that you never ever know who you are going to meet on this sidewalk right here at Jackson Square,” said Adonis.
After a long day with the family on Christmas — let’s face it you are going to need a cold one to take a load off. That’s why Kajun’s Pub is open this Christmas and every Christmas, actually, it’s open every day, 24 hours a day.
“You can only take so much of family and in the evenings. (People say) ‘I got to have a drink,’ and that’s what happens,” said Kajun’s owner Joann Guidos. “We will be busy tonight. I guarantee it.”
We are told by these workers that the tips on Christmas help ease the working blues, but even without the extra cash, they say it ain’t so bad.
“We work hard, and we appreciate all the tips. But we mostly do this for the love of it. Whether we make any money or not, we’d still be playing music,” said Andrews.
No story about working on Christmas would be complete without acknowledging the men and women serving in the armed forces, police officers, firefighters and first responders of all kinds.
We also can’t forget the doctors and nurses and bus drivers, pilots and flight attendants, too. We owe you all a big ‘thank you’ for working on Christmas.
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