Working on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family. A time to spend with friends. Black Friday is a time of capitalism and consumerism. However, lately stores have been opening their doors earlier and earlier for the past years; meaning that more employees must spend their Thanksgiving Day away from family to deal with enraged shoppers.

According to USA Today a number of retails chains such as Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Best Buy, and Toys R Us are opening on Thanksgiving Day. Other retailers have decided to open on Friday (The Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, Hobby Lobby and Costco).

Everyone deserves quality time with friends and family, especially for those who work in retail with unpredictable hours. One Kmart daughter of a Kmart employee, Jillian Fisher, asked Kmart to allow workers to take the day off for Thanksgiving if they wanted to. However, one Kmart employee stated their manger told them, “Everyone must work Thanksgiving and Black Friday. No time off.” Employees have no choice and no say in the matter. International Business Times stated that in a report done by an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll more than fifty five percent of employees working on Thanksgiving are being forced to work shifts.

We as consumers do not understand how much retailers and other workers sacrifice in order for us to enjoy buying luxury products that are on sale.  However, retail employees are not the only ones who must work on Thanksgiving Day. Jacob Davidson recently posted on article with statistics from an Allstate/National Journal poll stated one in four Americans who will work on either Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, or New Years Day. The twenty five percent of people who work on holidays make it possible for us to enjoy our time off. These workers included doctors, firefighters, policemen, and a retail techie.

We as consumers take Thanksgiving lightly. We’ll be standing in line for cheap electronics and other merchandise; stealing time away from the employees who work on Thanksgiving Day but want to be at home with their families. We should spend time with our friends and families creating memories which last a lifetime instead of purchasing material objects we’ll use for a couple of years and throw away after getting the latest model.