Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...Unless You Work at Kincaid's

Editor's note: The following letter to the editor was submitted by Patch reader D. Gosen.

Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. (RUI) has several successful restaurants across the county, many of which people are happy to identify with fond memories based on their food and dining experience. Kincaid's on the waterfront in Burlingame is no exception. It's a popular stop for the business-minded on the way to catch a flight out of SFO and is often a place for family celebrations, date nights and corporate parties. Like all of RUI's restaurants, it also offers a decent rewards program for their customers.

But this year, Scrooge might be working behind the scenes in Kincaid's. A recent corporate decision is keeping the restaurant open on Christmas Day for the first time in the restaurant's history.

On the surface, this seems like a simple example of "corporate greed." Digging in a little deeper, it is a bit worse. All managers and employees are scheduled to work that day, regardless of what plans they might have made for the holiday. This results in canceled flights and essentially any real "holiday" time with family and friends since the restaurant is also open on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Not to mention Kincaid's is also open on Thanksgiving Day, a day that even Trader Joe's has decided to close its doors so employees can spend time with their family. 

Now of course Kincaid's is not the first restaurant to stay open on Christmas Day. There are many restaurants that do this for one reason or another. The issue here is the timing. This decision was made in the middle of last week, a week before Thanksgiving and barely a month before Christmas. Employees, especially managers, have NO input on this "agreement" and are scheduled to come in. If they don't show up, they may not have a job. The reasoning behind opening on Christmas Day is also slightly ludicrous. Kincaid's profits and that of RUI have remained steady through the current state of the economy. Does it really need another day of "possible" business? Who is actually going to stop by and have a meal at a restaurant after flying in to spend the holidays with family and/or friends?

Someone should speak up for the employees who just had their Christmas taken away from them. I may be related to someone there, a significant other, a friend, or maybe I'm just someone that likes to eat there, enjoys their food and thinks that sometimes, people just need a break to celebrate one major family holiday a year.

Let RUI and Kincaid's know what you think. Maybe for just this year, Christmas cheer will come to the hard-working employees of Kincaid's.

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