I went into the store the other night to get a few rolls of film developed. After waiting for ten minutes, a rather haggard looking woman came up to take my film. She looked like she was ready to cry, and I asked her if she was ok. She looked at me for a moment and blinked. I wasn't sure if she was going to cry or if she had lost the will to live. I think it was a little of both. She told me that the power had gone out for three hours, and she still had four hundred and eighty photo Christmas cards yet to print out. She was pretty sure she was going to go insane.

She told me that most people wait until the very last moment to bring in their photo Christmas cards to be printed, and then they demand they be done as soon as possible. While she loves her job for eleven months out of the year, she loathes when December comes, because the amount of photo Christmas cards she has to print is more than she can handle. She misses time at home with her family because the demand is overwhelming. I decided then and there that if I even wanted to do photo Christmas cards that I would make sure I got them done right after Thanksgiving. Though that is a busier time, it is when people should be bringing in their orders for their photo Christmas cards. If you take them in that early, they aren't as rushed, and something like a three-hour power outage won't make the workers lose their minds. I know how tough the holidays can be, but with so many making it worse, you have to feel for those who get the brunt of it.

If you forget to do your photo Christmas cards printed early, you may want to reconsider. You may get them on time, but you may not like what you see. If someone is rushed, there is no guarantee that they will come out right, and if they don't, there will be no way for the photo Christmas cards to be reprinted to your liking. You won't have time to complain, and if you get them reprinted, they may not get them back to you in time for them to get in the mail when you need them to go out. Think early and get what you need before the rush hits.