Shopping on Thanksgiving
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Say-No-To-Shopping-on-Thanksgiving/310996065707642
What do you guys think about this? Are retailers wrong to be open on Thanksgiving? Some people feel there should be a federal ban in place.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-holiday-shopping-federal-blue-law-20131111,0,3190338.story
I tend to feel that in a free market economy the needs of the business tend to outweigh the needs of the employee - ergo this is an "at-will" state, both sides have choices. However, in light of the last 60 months of economic downturn - I am not so sure thats the case anymore..
skippy 
Retailers can choose to be open on Thanksgiving. I as a customer will not shop on Thanksgiving. If more customers refuse to shop on Thanksgiving or other holidays the retailers will get the message and close their doors.
HtownForum Just because they are open, doesn't mean one has to go. While I think it is not good, it is MY choice on whether I chose to shop or not.
Clyde Potts I agree with you both - I think this is driven mainly by two things
1. the period between thanks giving and Christmas is two days shorter this year.
2. due to a poor economy there is fierce competition for holiday dollars.
If we have an opinion on the issue we need to vote with our dollars not via legislation
Horrible that they are open. I hope they don't get any shoppers and they close next year. Many will not be able to join their families for dinner. For what? So you can buy socks at a bargain? Or a TV that you can...........buy on FRIDAY? It's not like fire , police or medical where there is not a choice to work. Stores can make the money through December 24.
maja I wouldn't consider shopping on Thanksgiving - not fair to the employees who also have families
5catmom I will be shopping Thanksgiving evening and I am fine with it. I guess I have worked so many holidays over the years (both in service industries and as a professional) that I don't get worked up on this issue. I have had to re-arrange or miss so many holidays that it is just a part of life.
I have seen so many peopld working on Thanksgiving over the past that it does not surprise me. From the restaurant workers that serve Thanksgiving dinner to the families that don't want to cook (where is the uproar about restaurants open on Thanksgiving???) to gas station attendents, to toll takers to convenient stores to support that item that was forgotten at the last minute.
Everyone has an opinion on this and if your family time does not include travel or shopping, then don't go out. For me, this year, my daughter and I are looking forward to shopping on Thanksgiving evening and into the wee hours on Black Friday. Last year we got up in the wee hours, did our shopping - even went to the mall - had a blast and were home by 7 am. What fun!
This year, we will be starting earlier and hopefully will be all done before midnight. Then home to a decent sleep and a relaxing weekend of shoping at the small businesses and local merchants over the weekend.
Coralie This is ridiculous. Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is all about FOOTBALL, not shopping. I am thoroughly disgusted that the true meaning of Thanksgiving has been usurped like this. Dis-Gus-Ted.
ianimal 
Calico696 Coralie,
I agree 100%. Not sure if I will go out since I am not a huge shopper, but for the few things I do need Thanksgiving day may be the perfect time!! Hoping everyone is home with their families so I don't have to bother with the crowds:)
JRT And what about the husbands of women who have to work on Thanksgiving night? Are they expected to get their OWN beers and snacks while watching football? That ain't right, either...
Lol ianimal! What about the people who work the beer concession stand at the football game~ no turkey with their family!
Though I don't shop on Thanksgiving Day, I do agree with Coralie.
Baci's mom Many people work on Thanksgiving, their choice I guess. I will be in Vegas for Thanksgiving. I'm sure there will be many people working their butts off there.
What about Chinese restaurants and movies theaters being open on Christmas? I don't hear anyone arguing about that. Especially not my Jewish friends. Christmas for Jewish people usually consists of Chinese food and a movie. What else can you expect them to do?
You don't have to shop on T'giving, true, but people will because that's when the Mega Sales are taking place. I'm still undecided if I will. Depends on how I feel after my meal. LOL! Actually going to miss doing the 5am up and out shopping. That's fun!
Some stores are waiting til 5am or 6am on black Friday to open, such as Lowes and Home Depot. It's not right that the employees have to work on T'giving, but I'm sure they are getting compensated for it. Doubt they are making their regular wages.
botheredbyuuI'm upset about this. Black Friday was my favorite shopping event ever since having kids. Going out at 2 am, getting the best presents, back home and in bed before the kids were up and they never even knew I went. This whole earlier and earlier Black Friday/now Thursday nonsense has ruined it for me. I will not be shopping on thanksgiving, and now I probably won't be shopping on Black Friday either. I'll be doing all my shopping online this year.
Njchia Njchia - just make sure you get FREE shipping!
Even the Tanger Outlet is opening on T'giving. 10pm.
From the restaurant workers that serve Thanksgiving dinner to the families that don't want to cook (where is the uproar about restaurants open on Thanksgiving???) to gas station attendents, to toll takers to convenient stores to support that item that was forgotten at the last minute.
Coralie
No uproar Coralie, because the people who are making the uproar are the ones using the services you listed above. So because they use them its ok for those places to be open because they service them.
Big deal if you have to work. That's life. Does it suck? Sure. As a teen/college age student, I remember a few Thanksgivings where my father and I roofed some houses (because the owners would be away and we needed the money.)
For those that are complaining and saying it's family time, will you keep the TV's off (because your inability to not watch TV is forcing someone to work that day)?
Will you abstain from alcohol (because there is a cop that has to perform DUI checks when he could be home with his family)?
Also, many people prefer to work those days since they get paid extra. It may not mean something to you and me but it's a lot to them.
If you have to work on Thanksgiving and feel like you're missing out on your family, maybe you shouldn't wait till Thanksgiving to have some family time.
emaxxman Thanksgiving is about family and football. Gathering around the table with friends and relatives, eating good food, listening to holiday music, playing with the kids. Does the need to make the almighty buck have to take over EVERY holiday? Doesn't anybody like slowing down for one day to reconnect?
Before I had children, I would always volunteer to work on holidays like Thanksgiving, Xmas, and Easter so that those with children could be home with their children. I do feel bad for those have to work on those holidays but it is what it is.
Mommyof3 I don't get the Black Friday hype. I hate shopping so there is no item worth it for me to wrestle a crowd of people for. I really don't see any fantastic deals when the flyers come out so I don't know what everyone is gonig crazy for. The few times they advertised a free item for the first 100 customers, they were out in 5 minutes. My time is way more valuable. Thank you Amazon!
Jazzykatt Or, all the Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Koehls etc. employees can call off on Thanksgiving night. What are theyh going to loose, their $8.00/hr disposable job?
I've been doing black friday shopping for years and have never, ever ran into a group of idiot people like you see on TV. Walmart, Kohls, Target, never, ever. As for deals, we have gotten some fantastic deals, especially at Kohls.
BBU - I totally agree with you. I have only had lots of fun and lots of friendly, happy people.
Great post Exmaxx!
Let's not forget about the service men and women who are oversee and cannot be with their family during the holidays.
PotStirrer - some people need their $8.00 (soon to be $8.25) an hr job. Who will help them out if they lose their job, YOU?? Doubt it!
"Thanksgiving is about family and football."
I hope you're not referring to watching it on TV. Seems hypocritical to me that your family time is based on someone else having to work.
Just got the mail and Kohls sent a $10 coupon. $10 off $10 purchase or more. Great deal. Its good Thursday 8pm til 1pm Friday.
Thanksgiving is about family and football. Gathering around the table with friends and relatives, eating good food, listening to holiday music, playing with the kids. Does the need to make the almighty buck have to take over EVERY holiday? Doesn't anybody like slowing down for one day to reconnect?
me
What about those Ushers & Vendors, TV people who are working at the stadium in which YOU are watching on TV while enjoying YOUR Thanksgiving.
Also not everyone has family. So some may look forward to working that day, instead of sitting home alone, and depressed that they are alone.
i love online shopping any day. problem solved! i wont get caught up in the hype of black friday.. im almost done shopping.. bring on the turkey and the wrapping paper! Lol!
darlughh I think the issue is that the vast majority of people working will be in service or retail occupations which by their nature tend to be at the lower end of the payscale. Due to the economy positions in these fields are not as plentiful as they once were - especially full time. Employees may be compelled to work to retain their position. I agree that working holidays tends to be inherent in this type of employment - and has been for years. What is confounding me is that now it seems to have become a moral issue and there seems to be an expectation that people should feel guilty for patronizing these businesses as a result.
While I will not shop that day and I am sure some employees would rather not work that day I think some have no problem working. The company I work for serves Canada and other regions and always get volunteers to work that day. Not everyone lives the rosey lives poster keep describing. Some do do not have friends and family to spend the day with and just as we'll want to stay busy and make some money. If you or your relatives ditch early on thanksgiving to shop that makes them the problem not the big bad retailer many wish to blame. Also many people love the macys parade and do not bash them as people work the parade or venture to the city to watch it live rather than being home.
jdem BBU - That's why I said DISPOSABLE job. That means if you get fired, you just turn around and get another one. At 8.00 an hour, you can go anywhere anytime. .
PotStirrer (Hmmm.....) Not necessarily. Places aren't hiring. Sounds to me (and correct me please if I'm wrong) that you are insinuating that people who make $8.00 are "bottom of the barrel" in your eyes.
After reading all of the thoughtful comments, I have decided that some lonely bartender needs all the tips he can get on Thanksgiving. I will be at the bar at noon :)
Who says places aren't hiring? There are jobs all over the place...
As for shopping, count me out!
Lori...since '73 I think its wrong that all the stores are open on Thanksgiving give your employees the day off to spend the time with there family I will NOT be shopping that day all stores should be closed. Years old nothing was open during the holidays now it's who can have the best deals, really if you wait that's when the deals really are
SAAK I have a Masters Degree and can not find any jobs elsewhere so I am forced to work at Walmart in order to pay bills and survive... So no I don't want to work but I understand that it's pretty much a requirement in retail and this job is not disposable I couldn't find anything for months as they hired me. Also they start at almost $10....PS because I'm fairly new I won't be getting holiday pay just my regular hourly wage.
MAGrad NOPE wont shop. Spending it with my family.
Walmart just announced their black Friday deals will start a week early so why be open on Thanksgiving?
MAGRAD, I feel sorry youhave to work on the holiday and I know you must as you need the money but you SHOULD be getting Holiday pay no matter how long you have worked there. THEY SUCK as an employer IMO. I also read that some Walmarts have put out boxes for donations of food for their employees. REALLY? That doesn't tell you something about themselves?
Christine http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-macys-is-opening-on-thanksgiving-2013-10-16
Turkey Day has become a huge day for retail
They are only hiring for the holiday season and after that they let most of the people go, so losing your job you have now, because you call out on T'giving, isn't worth it.
Even at 8.00 an hr.
Heard that too, that WMart starts pay at almost $10.00 an hour.
Overtime is paid 1.5 times of regular rate after working 40 hours per week (Sunday-Saturday). Some companies pay 2 times of regular rate after working 60 hours. So hard work pays not bad.
Lena Nov. 22, Walmart will only have a few items of their black friday sale actually on sale.
Real black friday sale starts Thanksgiving night.
It seems like a lot of people have negative comments regarding specific retailers being open on Thanksgiving - Here is a current list of retailers and their Black Friday shopping start times.
http://bfads.net/Black-Friday-Store-Hours
I notice there are quite a few that start Thursday morning.
And a recent article from Rockaway Mall regarding their Thanksgiving hours. I am guessing since many of their anchor stores are starting at 8:00 pm, the rest of the mall will follow.
http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/11/rockaway_mall_owner_well_open_at_8_on_thanksgiving_because_customers_want_us_to.html
Have Fun!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/11/walmart-to-give-workers-the-bird-on-thanksgiving/
Walmart To Workers: Sorry You Won’t Be Home On Thanksgiving, Here’s A Turkey Dinner
When accepting a job offer, most people go into it knowing full well what their hours will be and all the days off including vacation. They also know what days are a must to be there along with certain holidays.
If everyone decided that they "just don't go if they don't want to work", well then be prepared to have no one answer your 911 call, the police can't come to help you and the hospitals are closed so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to have a doctor check out that heart attack you are having right now...that's IF you make it until tomorrow. Good Luck!
Sleepy- Good point.....no one mentioned the emergency staff that will have to work on Thanksgiving.
Honestly I do not understand what is the big deal here......there are many places of business that have been and will be open during the holidays. The thing that really gets me is that Thanksgiving is not even a religious holiday which I would think would be more of an issue.
positive I don't really care either way but looking at it from the retail business point of view. These are the holidays that the retail business thrives in sales which then has more people employed who wouldn't have been if business was slow and not profitable. I would think that's a win-win situation both for the business and for the new employee hired because of it.
Skippy - that article makes a good point - for the Walmart stores that are open 24 hours - they are open all day, anyway.
Isn't the Mansfield Walmart open 24 hours? So they would not have closed even if the Black Friday sales started later. Is that correct?
Coralie, Rockaway mall is actually forcing all the stores to open on thanksgiving and stay open till midnight on Friday, regardless of what their corporate headquarters are asking them to do. If they aren't open at 8 pm they will be fined.
btownguy "Walmart To Workers: Sorry You Won’t Be Home On Thanksgiving, Here’s A Turkey Dinner."
Skippy
And holiday pay and 25% discount on all merchandise.
Njchia - if you go to some of the national mall merchants websites - not the big box stores - they are already showing that the corporate policy is to open at 8pm on Thanksgiving.
The decision is not just the Rockaway Mall - The change is coming down from the top leadership at the large brands as well.
It is all fine and good to swing blame to one or two large businesses - but this is a change that is coming from all directions. It is not limited to the handful of big department / box stores that have been publicizing for the past several weeks.
That is all I am trying to say. To have such a negative reaction to specific retailers at this point is silly (IMO) because it is not limited to a select few.
I agree with you Coralie - I don't think any of this is new - here is a funny Bradlees ad from 1995 which illustrates this point - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P96iwvFJAGU
We as a society have made everything a moral issue - from fair trade coffee to what stores are open on holidays. Obviously the stores are open due to demand and the expectation is that it will meet the needs of the business for them to be staffed. To demand legislation preventing this as has been done in some areas is ridiculous and violates the very tenants of a free market economy.
side note - I will be working on thanksgiving receiving no extra pay as a salaried employee. needs of the business - ill have turkey with the family in the late afternoon. We all have our crosses to bear. Working hours when the bulk of society is off is inherent to retail.
I hear you, Skippy - As a salary employee I, and my team, will be working at some point on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I get no additional pay for this, either. At least the people on my team, will. :-)
We will not have to work on Thanksgiving, but we will be supporting Christmas, New Years eve and New Years Day.
Needs of the business. Business as usual.
Btownguy: this is the memo. From when I worked at the mall I believe the fine was 1000-2000 if your store was not open when it was "expected" to be open.
Coralie, I just feel it should be the stores choice. You have a store like GameStop, whose sales start at 5 am Friday, yet they're "expected" to open at 8 on thanksgiving. That's just ridiculous.
well that's a contractual thing with the mall - ever had your gate down and gotten a "tenant rule violation"?
Njchia - it specifically states in the memo "in keeping in line with the department store hours" and "as a friendly reminder all tenants are expected to follow the holiday schedule."
So, it appears that Simon has modified the full mall schedule to support the decision of the department store anchors to open at 8pm on Thursday. Simon did not come up with this original timing for the stores to be open.
I do recall last year, when the mall opened at midnight (if I remember correctly) because the department stores decided to open at midnight. I did go to the mall in the very early hours on Black Friday (thinking about 5-6 am) and I do recall more than a handful of stores that were closed at that time. The majority (and all of the national retailers) were open, but many of the small operators, without national presence, were closed.
They were not forced to be open. It did appear that it was the store's choice however when they chose to be at a mall location, they would be expected to follow the mall hours.
From Simon's position, I think that once the department stores adopted an 8pm opening, it only made sense to extend that to the rest of the mall. Afterall, the mall still needs to be open to support customers going from one department store to another.
Now, maybe, the stores are using this memo from the mall management to pass down their decision to be open and to have employees be told to work. Even the memo states that the stores are expected to follow the mall hours. I would gather that there are provisions within the lease agreement regarding being open during mall hours and what happens if they fail to support the mall hours.
However, last year, there were several that did not open as early as the mall did for black friday.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/qm5zp9/its-a-family-tradition
adult language and themes but funny none the less
Have been researching pricing for a new frig, and bought one last weekend. Clerk told me it was already priced for black Friday shopping. I advised the clerk that the price was exactly the same price as it was two weeks ago, except that the color of the price sticker changed from yellow to green.
denise You wouldn't think that it was so great if you couldn't be with family and celebrate the holiday. All for the mighty dollar!
Johnboy Was out at the mall this evening. About 60% of the stores were open in the mall, which means that 40% did not open. Clearly it was the store's choice if they opened or not and they were not forced to be open last evening.
The mall was very busy, but mostly not crazy busy. The stores with real door buster sales were doing a brisk business and were well prepared for a busy night.
Did meet a couple of ladies that had worked all day serving Thanksgiving dinner to folks. So after working all day at a job that we do not complain about on Thanksgiving they were out having some fun.
The one sight that amazed me over and over, was the large number of families with very small children that were at the mall and still shopping when we left at midnight. I am talking about those with children that were under 5. I was not expecting such a large number of peole with very small children.
skyblue2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515024/Black-Friday-One-man-STABBED-row-parking-space-shoplifter-SHOT-police.html
shoppers clash over reduced price goods
skippy - Obviously they are idiots. I was out last night at the stores and saw no one acting like a fool. Good people out here in the country. LOL!
Botheredbyuu - I totally agree. Can't even begin to imagine what is going on in those people's heads.
The worst that I saw was at the Pink section of Victoria Secrets where they had hoodies for $25. The boxes of hoodies looked like they had been through a war. Even 2 hours after the store was open, there were women giving the evil eye if you picked up something in a different box than they were if it was possible that they may want that item. After 2 minutes of looking - we chose to dump the one shirt my daughter was interested in and leave the store.
Other than that , we saw the Aeropostale store looked like a tornado had going through it. The displays were such a mess- although the store was pretty empty 2 1/2 hours after they opened. At 60% off, I guess the customers were acting pretty badly. Again - with a mess like that (even though there were few customers) we just turned around and leff. Nothing was worth having to pick through those piles of clothes.
We did hit the main stores that we wanted to go to. Those were busy, but very well managed. picked up some stuff, but not too much and had a good 4 hours of shopping. Finished up this morning with trips to the other stores we wanted to go to and are officially done with our holiday shopping. was successful overall and did not have any bad experiences.
Also - while out there shopping, I did pick up $70 of pajamas to donate to my work's annual Pajama Drive. Thank goodness for the sales to provide an opportunity to donate more to this cause (they only accept new pajamas for the drive and I set aside a specific amount for this donation). With the Black Friday sales I was able to donate 3 sets of adult pajamas and 7 pairs of childern's pajamas - all in various sizes.
Don't forget those in need this season - Toys for Tots is another organization that we will contribute to as well.
Remember when Thanksgiving was a fun holiday and a wonderful four day weekend? Now it's just an obnoxious shopping spree where losers race to the mall to empty their pockets
the first year of my first full-time job, I worked thanksgiving day, Christmas eve and day, New Year's eve and Easter - and was glad to do so - I worked to be able to go to school and pay the bills - my job was health care and I am sure that all are glad that health care workers are there 365 days a year - if you want to shop, shop - if not, don't.. this year, I shopped online, knew the "regular" prices and was able to find significant savings on my holiday shopping. Why spend so much time/effort telling others what they should do - it's your choice - if you work for a company that is open on holidays, you can expect to have to work some holidays...
pmnsk pmnsk....agree. I worked many Holiday's. Spending meaningful time with your loved ones does not have to be on a "national holiday" in order to be meaningful. I swear some people just want to piss and moan about something they know nothing about. IF you are forced to work on a holiday for a retail store and want to complain then by all means do it BUT all of you that are not part of that group need to let it go. People have been working on holiday's for many years. I don't recall anyone complaining about the poor hospital workers that have to work or the poor police that have to work.
Firefly I feel quite smug that I did not spend one penny today. I did not engage in rabid consumerism, brand name brainwashing or was out in the middle of the night for something I probably don't need.
Having no credit card debt rules!
I'm not a shopper either vous...frankly I hate it but I don't begrudge the people that do like shopping. "To each its own". :)
Black Friday: A Shameful Orgy Of Materialism For A Morally Bankrupt Nation
It has been called "America's most disturbing holiday". Black Friday is the day when millions of average Americans wait outside retail stores in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to spend more money that they do not have for more cheap Chinese-made products that they do not need. It is a day when the rest of the world makes fun of Americans for behaving like "rabid animals" and "zombies" as we indulge in a tsunami of greed. It truly is a shameful orgy of materialism for a morally bankrupt nation...
I agree vous- many people act like animals to get a good deal and completely miss the entire meaning of Christmas. However, I said "some people". There are many holiday shoppers that do not fall into that category.
As if "retailers" are suddenly going to hike their prices on Monday or something. Gullible morons.....all in the name of saving a God-Almighty buck. I find the total commercialization of the holidays depressing!
RU RU - According to the link you included, there was one death in 2013 - and this was due to a car accident where the kid driving fell asleep at the wheel. Way to trump up the link. Also - one of the links included a story from Ireland - so this appears to no longer be an American thing.
People behaving badly is totally and completely nuts. It gives the fun of deal shopping such a bad name.
A Black Friday report from The Onion's perspective:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/42-million-dead-in-bloodiest-black-friday-weekend,30517/
Women Get Into Black Friday Stun Gun Fight Inside the Mall
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Woman-Tased-Mall-Fight-Black-Friday-Philadelphia-233855601.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_PHBrand
Holiday Shopper Shot
http://www.8newsnow.com/story/24094344/breaking-news-black-friday-shopper-shot
Suspected shoplifter shot after dragging cop through KOHL's parking lot...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-black-friday-kohls-shooting-20131128,0,3522858.story
Shoppers Trampled In Race For $49 Tablet...
http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2013/11/29/shoppers-knocked-to-ground-in-utah-walmart-rush/
SALVATION ARMY kettles stolen...
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/29/north-carolina-store-manager-donates-100-after-thief-steals-salvation-army/
Certainly, people who work in patient care at hospitals work on Thanksgiving ... there are various jobs that are considered "essential" where people work on family holidays. We always need to have our police protecting us, and military, too. Crime and evil do not take holidays.
Since Thanksgiving is such a big football day, I've worked many a Thanksgiving Day covering Phillipsburg -Easton and other traditional rivalry games, like Del Val-South Hunterdon, Lakewood-Toms River. When you get to do work you actually enjoy, that's something to be thankful for in itself.
No, I don't shop on Thanksgiving. To legislate against it would be "socialism," or "the government being on the business man's back," but we can stop it just by not shopping on that day. Besides, I beat the rush and do much of my Christmas shopping in September and October(:
Andy Loigu If you wanted to gather up as many idiots in one fell swoop as possible, Black Friday would be the day to do it.
Prices jacked up a lot from Thursday night to Friday afternoon. Saw that for myself. NOT a rumor. LOL!
Yes, there are idiots all across the country, but no one can post something that shows idiots in our area acting like the rest.
Lets get real people retail jobs and having a store open on Thanksgiving is not an ESSENTIAL job. Healthcare, Fire, Police etc are ESSENTIAL JOBS!
Who said retail is an essential job? Did I miss something? It may not be essential in running the world, saving lives, etc..... but it is essential to the people who work retail and rely on their paychecks.
Let's all take a moment to remember the 42 million lost yesterday (Calico's report) LOL!
iJay3 Agree Christine. Having worked in retail on a holiday I never considered my job essential or equal to the healthcare field, fire or police. No way.
yeah its a joke newspaper that looks real..
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/01/166293306/the-onion-so-funny-it-makes-us-cry
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/world/asia/north-korea-china-onion/
occasionally it gets taken for serious news.
Here's what all of you should do. Next year, boycott all of the businesses that were open on Thanksgiving. Don't stop at just the retail stores either. Make sure you permanently boycott the restaurants too (is eating out essential?) Don't forget the gas stations (is it their fault you didn't fill your tank up on Wednesday?) And don't stop your bitching and boycotts at Xmas. Make sure you do it all year long..because I doubt these businesses treat their employees like crap only on one day of the year.
When the businesses close, make sure you go to your neighbors, relatives, and/or friends who lost their jobs and tell them how proud you are for taking a stand.
Take your heads out of your collective butts and notice that the economy sucks right now. The stores opened due to competition for your dollar. There are plenty of people who have jobs, albeit temporary, because of the holiday season. I'm sure they don't like working on Thanksgiving but as I said earlier, having some pay is a big deal to them even if it's not to you.
The post is about retail shopping. Nothing else. Not cops, not firemen, not doctors, not caretakers, not the paper boy. They, and others, have always been,and will always be, 365 days. God bless them for it. But if I am going to spend $1000 for the holidays, it can be spent the day after Thanksgiving or on December 24. Nothing you can say will change that. And the holiday matters to many Americans. Think about it. We don't get that many true holidays. Most businesses only close two days a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can't we cherish 2 days? 2 days out of 365? 2 days that you stay away from credit cards and material acquisition? If you don't appeciate the holiday, why crucify it? Why piss on it?
Spend the day as you wish. It is your right as a free citizen or tourist. But don't ruin an American tradition by stating that you are supporting the part time retail hourly workers. Ruin it because you do not believe in or support American traditions.
For the record, I was out from about 10:00 Thursday night until 3:00 Friday morning. I did not witness one bit of rabid or zombie like behavior by any shoppers and all the salespeople and workers I encountered were polite and helpful. While we can all post the horror stories and shake our heads at the deplorable behavior of some, there were almost 100 million people shopping on Thursday and Friday, so that makes for quite a few well behaved people that didn't make the paper or headlines. The best thing about Thursday night and Black Friday shopping is that if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. If enough people stayed away from the stores, it would end. It doesn't appear to be headed that way.
Bessie Great Post, Bessie! I felt and do feel the same way. Other than the stores getting a bit messy from the crowds, most everyone was pleasant. We can focus on the negative or focus on the positive. The choice is always ours.
I understand why people went shopping on Thursday and not Friday. I should admit that traditionally Friday after Thanksgiving was a day off for some regular NJ state workers but not any longer. The same is valid for many businesses and private companies also. So for all their workers Thursday was the only day for "special" shopping. I didn't shop on Thursday or Friday (I get better deals during the year) but my DH couldn't resist to check stores for some particular items.
To be closed on Thanksgiving holiday may be was American tradition for many years but now American tradition is "get everything cheap, get the best deal at any cost, ethics is a thing from the past". It's American tradition to work until you drop dead, with no paid holidays, vacations and sick days. Other countries have extended paid maternity leave and vacations, many days and even weeks of paid national holidays. We work - always work - and work on Thanksgiving soon will be not a something unusual. The American tradition is also the "shopping". We have bus tours going to outlet malls, our media promotes consumerism, our kids are raised to have as much "stuff" as we can afford (or even we cannot afford), raised this way by us the parents. As a result these two American traditions are combined into one new tradition - shopping hunt during the only day off from work on Thanksgiving day while better deals are available and while older generation is cooking big holiday meal and/or watching kids.
My GOD what did we do years ago when everything was closed on every holiday?
Christine
18 hours ago
Waaaaay back when I was little, I remember going out with my sisters to walk to the milk machine Thanksgiving morning:)
Blackcat "Spend the day as you wish. It is your right as a free citizen or tourist. But don't ruin an American tradition by stating that you are supporting the part time retail hourly workers. Ruin it because you do not believe in or support American traditions."
American tradition?! Please stop with the garbage. Let's see:
1) Football - a big part of the day, correct? How many people have to work so you can have your tradition? I guess those people don't matter.
2) Movies - theaters have been open on Thanksgiving for as long as I remember. How many people have to work so you can have your tradition? I guess those people don't matter.
3) Restaurants are open. How many people have to work so you can have your tradition? I guess those people don't matter.
4) Macy's Parade. How many people have to work so you can have your tradition? I guess those people don't matter.
This is not about tradition or family time. This whole argument is all about consumerism and what you consider to be acceptable or not.
I suspect there are often underlying psychological reasons that cause the compulsion to run out on Thanksgiving/Black Friday to go the malls, park 1/2 mile away, walk in the cold, be around thousands people coughing, sneezing, smell like they haven't showered in weeks, wait in lines for hours, drive home in traffic, all to save a buck.
I am not taking either side but here are my opinions.
Why do you need a holiday to have family time? You are telling me out of the entire year (Except Thanksgiving and Xmas) you can not find family time? I love Thanksgiving because I do see family but our family plans at least a few get togethers outside of holidays. Why not focus on getting ride of 24hr stores? Why not focus on a work day ending at 5pm and not 10pm? Why not focus on not working on Sundays?
I didn't go out and wait in lines for black friday. If you are smart about it, you would know that all deals are online. I needed a new TV so I bought a door buster TV from Bestbuy at 8:30am on Thursday to save $200! So yes, I made someone work on Thanksgiving while was preparing food, eating, and spend time with family. BUT I also go skiing as a family tradition on xmas so I am again making people work. So does black friday shopping and going skiing on a holiday make me bad?
westvillage "I suspect there are often underlying psychological reasons that cause the compulsion to run out on Thanksgiving/Black Friday to go the malls, park 1/2 mile away, walk in the cold, be around thousands people coughing, sneezing, smell like they haven't showered in weeks, wait in lines for hours, drive home in traffic, all to save a buck."
Yep, it's the same mental issues that cause thousands of people to gather in the freezing cold, pushed up against each other, drunk off their a**es, just so they can see an illuminated ball drop while forcing hundreds of people to work when they could be home with their families. Let's cancel New Year's eve this year because it's in reality, just another reason for people to get stupid drunk and kill during their drive home from parties.
It's called pack mentality. It's for those who don't know who they are and need to follow the herd.And no whining allowed when the credit card bills come in.Yeah and thanks to all you sheeple who can't wait 12 hours to buy their useless junk. Next year they will open at 6am on thanksgiving because of you idiot zombies.
eperot Blackcat - I remember the milk machine as you enter Kenwood village from Bells Lane? I do remember going there once-
ml vous - JMO, but you sound very angry. Hope you can find happiness somewhere this holiday season.
America's new favored tradition:
http://nypost.com/2013/11/29/cop-shoots-shoplifter-near-chicago-amid-black-friday-chaos-others-hurt-around-country/
There are many varied sources for Black Friday "crazies" videos, just google black friday 2013 or similar. Some people are nuts!
justintime How many people died or were injured on Black Friday? Almost 10K people die each year from alcohol-related car accidents. How many more die from non-automotive alcohol-related accidents?
If we're so concerned about preventing unnecessary deaths, we should start with one of America's favorite hobbies - getting drunk.
heart disease is number one - I guess we should ban this holiday all together
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm
lol
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