As Chairman of Dilber's Supermarkets, Thaddeus Pike knows all too well the importance of Christmas. To him it's customer manipulation, gratuitous profits, increased shareholder confidence and seven-figure executive bonuses. But for the staff who populate his six hundred supermarkets and convenience stores, the story is quite a different one. What is Christmastime to them? Ending their shifts late on Christmas Eve and returning back to work early Boxing Day morning, it's as though there's no time for Christmas at all. As one member of the Dilber's family says, "Christmas is for other people, not for those who work in retail." But was it always this way? What about the founder of the company? Did he share Pike's narrow vision of Christmas, or did he do things differently? And if so, how would he feel now, seeing what Thaddeus Pike had done to his company, his name and his reputation? The Reckoning of Thaddeus Pike is not your typical retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece. Gone are the separate ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, replaced by the simple truth that everyone deserves a special Christmas...especially those who, in the weeks and months leading up to the blessed event, must suffer us - the customer - with all our attendant greed, selfishness, avarice, hostility to others, and pompous self-importance. Note: This story was originally published by the author under the pen name, Cropwell Bishop.