Most people in Selma had a chance to wake up as late as they wanted on Christmas, after which they were greeted with family and presents under the Christmas tree.

Others woke up early in the morning on Christmas and went to work like it was a normal day.

The warden of the Dallas County Jail, David Lee Brown, needed to be at work at 7 a.m. on Christmas morning. He doesn’t like being away from his family on Christmas, but he said it’s not too hard working on the holidays because he loves his job.

“It takes me away from my family, but most of these guys out here, they’re incarcerated, so I try to put as much time as I can with them to see what’s on their mind to see what their thought is about Christmas. So I enjoy my job,” Brown said.

Brown, who has been working at the jail for 24 years, said even though his Christmas shift was from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., he stays on call 24 hours a day in case something goes wrong. While he’s always ready to receive a call, Brown said he hoped nothing would happen after he left the jail Friday that would keep him from his family on Christmas.

Not many families in Selma were out on the road on Christmas, but a good number of people who did leave their house made a stop at Walgreens, which was one of the only stores open. Melisha Smiley, a photo specialist at Walgreens, said she volunteered to have a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift during Christmas day.

Smiley said it was her desire to be selfless and give her co-workers a day off that made her choose to work on Christmas.

“I try to find different ways I can share the Christmas spirit,” Smiley said. “Let everybody have a fair share with their family, so I decided to work this morning and hopefully I’ll have the evening with my boys.”

Throughout the day, Smiley said she had to deal with a few customers who were on edge purchasing their last-minute items. But Smiley also dealt with customers who were so shocked she had to work on Christmas that they said they would call the corporate headquarters to complain about making Smiley work during the holidays.

“Sometimes you wish you were home with your family like anybody else, but you have a job to do and you just try to make the best of it,” Smiley said.

While nearly all restaurants were closed in Selma on Friday, Mr. Waffle had a constant flow of customers going in and out.

Courtney Dial, a waitress at Mr. Waffle, said she won’t stop working just because it’s Christmas.

“I’ve still got to make money because bills still have to be paid for the holiday,” Dial said.

While Dial was looking forward to spending time with family after her shift from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., she said working at a restaurant on the holidays has its perks.

Whether it came from pity, graciousness or a little bit of both, customers were willing to give a little more to those working at Mr. Waffle during Christmas.

“The tips are a little bit better because it’s the holidays, and people are telling are telling us Merry Christmas and God bless us,” Dial said.

While not everyone in Selma shared the ideal Christmas morning, some people who did work on the holidays were more than happy to do so.

For Brown, sacrificing part of his Christmas to work at the jail was not all that much of a sacrifice at all.

“I tell kids all the time, in order to do a job, you’ve got to love it,” Brown said. “If you don’t love what you’re doing, then it’s not going to be successful to you.”