Some families spend Thanksgiving around the table eating, laughing, spending the quality time with each other they may not have during the year. It’s tradition for these families.
Other families may prefer to eat a quick lunch at home, and head out to the stores. Spending their day camped out in front of malls and big box stores with credit cards and lattes in hand, anxiously waiting for the doors to open and their bargain hunting to begin.
This holiday season will be my third holiday working retail and each year I’ve noticed the stores opening earlier, and earlier. On my first Black Friday my coworkers and I were shocked that a store would be opening at 12:00 a.m. We were confused as to why people would want to go shopping that early, much less wake up that early. Last year we were informed that the corporate office had changed our Black Friday hours. Our store would now open even earlier, 8:00 p.m. Thanksgiving night. This seemed absolutely ludicrous to all of my coworkers, even my managers. We made the best of it, and had convinced ourselves that our corporate office would refuse to crack under pressure the following holiday. Then other week I had received the news that corporate did in fact give in, and many of us would be clocking into work on 5:30 p.m. Thanksgiving evening.
Before we dive into this, I would like to clarify that I am incredibly thankful to have a job during the holidays and that I really do love the company I work for. Jobs can be hard to come by, especially for students, so to have the opportunity to earn money for school is a blessing in itself and if I’m going to be honest, from my perspective as a college student, while working Thanksgiving is not the ideal situation, it’s not the end of the world. Sure, my time with family will be cut drastically, and most likely have to skip Thanksgiving dinner in order to clock into work, but I’m fortunate that my family lives in town, and I can see them whenever I want.
From the perspective of many of my coworkers with a family of their own, it’s not that easy. Many have family who live hundreds of miles away, and won’t be able to make the trip home this year because they’ll working. Others have to find family or friends to care for their small children as they have to spend the holiday away from them. Many have grandchildren and will have to explain why grandma/grandpa won’t be home for Thanksgiving with them. At the end of the day, families are being separated for the sake of big business and profit. Is all of this really necessary? Is our desire for a bargain greater than our desire for others to spend time with family?
Successful companies such as Patagonia, GameStop, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Costco, Crate and Barrel, Neiman Marcus, and Bed Bath & Beyond have yet to break under the pressure of the almighty dollar and still maintain successful quarters and rally in major profits during the holidays. These brands instead wait until the day after the holiday, opening at early hours of the morning, offering customers equally as good, if not better deals.
Although I’d like to solely blame the corporations, they are not the only ones to blame. Perhaps my coworkers would be able to spend the holiday with their families if consumer’s priorities placed family ahead of saving a buck. Are we as a nation, a culture, so obsessed with shopping and sales that we forget the meaning of Thanksgiving? Have we forgotten this holiday is about expressing gratitude, not about expressing our desire for materialistic items? Have we forgotten that sales associates are people with lives, with families, and with traditions of their own? Unfortunately, I think so.
Regardless of what is written here, I realize many will continue to shop on Thanksgiving. Let me clarify that shopping on Thanksgiving does not make you a bad person, an inconsiderate person, or even completely out of line. However, before we line up on Thanksgiving afternoon, let us all take a moment to appreciate those that are giving up their holiday at home so we can shop during ours.