So I was very torn over writing this blog, but decided I had to do it or my head would spontaneously combust. I know some of you will disagree, such is life. Just please get to the end before your head explodes on your keyboard, mkay?
I do not get the whole outrage over people having to work on Thanksgiving. It’s just a day. To pin the entire life of your family to a single day is a bit extreme to me. Where are the other 364 days you should be loving your family?!?!
Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving. Not everyone has a family. Some people need to go out to eat because they have no other way to feed themselves that day. Maybe they had a house fire. Or maybe they are disabled. Who knows and who are you to judge?
So here’s a message to all you retail, restaurant, grocer and other random workers who are complaining this year:
THERE ARE A METRIC ASS TON OF OTHER PEOPLE ALREADY WORKING THOSE DAYS!!!
There are firefighters, (for when you burn your house down with turkey)
police officers, (for the peace at the parade you NEED to watch since it’s tradition)
hospital staff, (for all you who burn themselves)
military servicemen, (to make sure you don’t get nuked as you eat turkey)
ambulance drivers, (to save you from choking on that turkey bone)
911 operators, (to send the guy who saves you from choking)
nursing home workers, (for those with no families to take them out for the day)
mass transit workers, (so you can GET to your family)
airline pilots, (who fly everyone in on time to turkey)
flight attendants, (so you can have a turkey day at destination)
not to mention all the airport support staff, (who you always forget)
movie theater workers, (who have been forgotten for two decades, no boycotts for them, huh?)
tv crews, (so you can watch the parade and football you feel you deserve over that poor worker who misses out on turkey with family-just for you)
utility companies, (the guys who make our entire turkey day possible)
So why do you all get so angry over the retail workers having to work?!?! Is it because every other worker is there to serve you while you all sit at home on your tush?
As an ex-retail worker who had to stock toys on the night of Thanksgiving, I do understand where your feelings are. However, as I said earlier, it is just a day on the calendar. You can enjoy turkey the day before or the day after- just like all the other workers I listed have had to do for decades without the masses getting angry on their behalf.
Tomorrow I am happily enjoying a movie in the theater and maybe even going out to eat with my husband. We’re breaking all the “family togetherness” rules and yet, somehow, we will still manage to love each other. And be thankful.
Imagine that.
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Why do people make a big deal out of working on Thanksgiving? It is first and foremost an American religious holiday. It represents a feast that was originally held to bring people together to thank God for the blessings bestowed by the fall harvest which allowed the earliest colonial settlers to stockpile food enough to survive the winter. So why do so many people become angry about people working during thanksgiving and not Christmas or Easter? What about all of the other federal holidays? Remembering fallen service members becomes an excuse for a BBQ. Honoring veterans has become a shopping holiday with big sales advertised for weeks in advance. The nations Independence Day has become just a BBQ with fire works. So why is Thanksgiving this day that people become so outraged over? Is it because of its religious start as a feast of giving thanks to God? With all the emphasis on taking prayer out of schools and attempts to remove the words “one nation under God” from the pledge of allegiance, I wonder how many people who are so vocally opposed to people working on Thanksgiving will actually pray aloud with their family, giving thanks for their many blessings before they eat. I cant’t help but think that the vast majority of these people are upset because they view this holiday as a time to celebrate with family and are upset that the big businesses are encroaching on their family. All of these people who voice opposition to this practice and don’t spend time with their family openly thanking God for their many blessings strike me as hypocrites. You don’t get to kneel at the alter of consumerism for every other major holiday and then all of a sudden feign outrage at all the retail stores that are setting up for what has historically been the largest shopping day of the year. Businesses are going to do whatever they can to maximize profits it is the job of every business manager to maximize profits. If people were to let their wallet do the talking on this issue then businesses would scale back on this practice as opening earlier would actually cost them money and not make them money. The fact that Black Friday continues to be the biggest shopping day of the year indicates to me that the opposition is comprised of either the vocal minority or hypocrites.
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