Bastiel works retail management, and I work in shipping, so I put her sona Bas on a desk dealing with orders and my Darren swamped with outgoing packages.
I can't say much about her feelings, but given her work and output, even if we're not in the same lifeboat, it's still the same shipwreck, so I feel safe in assuming she feels at least similar: I hate the holiday shopping season. I know the comedic tone I went with doesn't sell it as much as I want, but goddammit this workload and all the extra stress that comes with it. And just all the consumerism and monetization of the holidays, just pisses me off. I'm an atheist, but I will be among the first to tell you how disgusting it is that a time that should be about joy and family and togetherness has been turned into a cynical money-making ploy. I know I make good money since I'm union, but it's barely a consolation to everything else.
Just, at least think about Bastiel and other retail workers, me and other warehouse workers, and the drivers who deliver this stuff when you buy it and keep it light; we're in a tough, stressful job, made worse when the pandemic hit - we were in the trenches just keeping the economy afloat at all.