FEW `OPEN' SIGNS VISIBLE ON MONDAY

A drive through town on Christmas Day was a drive through a retail and service wasteland as commerce came to a virtual standstill.

However, there were a few scattered outposts at which the neon "open" signs remained on, a welcome sight for customers otherwise out of luck during the holiday shutdown.

Bessie's Restaurant and Smorgasbord on Route K near Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau remained open, a fact not lost on -- or unappreciated by -- the throng of customers who kept the establishment packed all day long.

"It's been busy since we opened the door at 6 a.m," said owner Bessie Kersey.

Bessie's has a longstanding tradition of staying open for business on a day when most in the trade shut down.

"I've been in this business for 20 and was open one Thanksgiving," Kersey explained. "I wasn't going to be open Christmas Day but on Thanksgiving all our customers said they'd see us Christmas Day, and we've been open on that day ever since."

Customers, Kersay said, included not just people alone for the holiday but large groups of 20 or more. Some people, she said, just don't want to cook.

Across the street from Bessie's, Casey Brown, front desk clerk at Victorian Inn, didn't mind working on Christmas.

"There is not much going on," Brown said. "It is kind of nice to have a slow day once in a while."

Although this time of year is one of extensive travel and therefore a busy one for hotels and motels, Brown said there is little movement on Christmas Day.

"Our guests are all pretty much here or gone already," she said.

Duncan Bruce-Ross, a clerk at Walgreen's, also didn't mind working the holiday especially since doing so earned him a premium wage.

"It's fine with me. It's no hassle. The pay is the biggest thing," Bruce-Ross said.

While business had been brisk early in the day, things had slowed down by late afternoon. Bruce-Ross said it is nice to work a day like Christmas.

"You have more time to do the things you need to get caught up on and it's a hassle-free day because people are so cheery," he said.

Most customers, he said, stopped in for stocking stuffers, last minute gifts and items for the family dinner they may have forgotten like paper plates or milk. And considering the time of year, over-the-counter medicines were popular.

"Dairy products and cold medicines," Ross-Bruce said. Moments later his theory was verified as a customer approached with a gallon of milk and a bottle of cough syrup.

Not everybody, however, is thrilled about spending Christmas at work. Robin Hill, a clerk at Wink's Mini-Mart on Themis, wasn't mad she had to work but would much rather have been home.

"I don't like it," Hill said. "I don't think people should have to work on Christmas. I don't think anything should be open."

A passing customer echoed Hill's sentiments. "Nothing should be open on Christmas except for the hospitals," she said.

Hospital workers, like police, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel, were on duty, of course.

Dr. Richard Mitchell, an emergency room physician at Southeast Missouri Hospital who was on duty Christmas, said the day hadn't been any busier than normal.

The fact that the area didn't get much snow or ice helped to keep traffic-related injuries down. Mitchell also said that despite the connection holidays have with overindulgence, patients with ailments related to an excess of food or drink are uncommon.

The hospital staff, he said, keeps the day fun with plenty of holiday goodies to munch on. Other than that, it was a typical shift.

"For us ER docs it's just another day," Mitchell said. "We're not used to getting holidays off. That's just part of the territory."