There are occupations we consider “essential” whom we expect to work on Thanksgiving Day – police officer, fire fighters, gas station attendants, hospital staff, nursing home staff, news anchors, child welfare workers, and tow truck drivers. I’ve never work in the restaurant or retail industry. The only time I’ve ever worked on Thanksgiving was when I worked in a youth residential family. My family had dinner without me – which sucked. Although I didn’t do any shopping on Thanksgiving I have in the past. Did you go shopping on Thanksgiving Day?
Many stores open on Thanksgiving Day for early Black Friday deals. I am always amazed at the people who refuse to shop in malls, department stores, or super stores on Thanksgiving because “employees should be able to share the holidays with their families” but don’t hesitate to attend football games, go bowling or to the movies, dash into the grocery store, or eat Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant. Is the cashier at Old Navy, Walmart, JC Penney, or Five Below more deserving of family time than the cashier at the concession stand at the NFL stadium or AMC Theater?
• Some people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all.
• Others view shopping as a family as American as watching football as a family.
• Some people need the money and welcome the holiday pay.
• Other people don’t have family in their area while others don’t have a family they can spend time with at all.
I don’t often hear these ‘facts’ discussed in the ‘should stores open on Thanksgiving’ debate.
We can’t force our holiday traditions and routines on anyone else or judge them negatively because they are different than our own. The bottom line is that we all celebrate the holidays differently – that what makes America great!
Spread Love! Happy Holidays!
Nicki Sanders, The Packaged For Success Coach, is an experienced trainer, group facilitator, and program manager. She has packaged her Masters of Social Work degree and over 15 years of work experience into Packaged For Success, a training and professional development company. Packaged For Success provides career coaching to college students, entry-level job hunters, and experienced employees seeking a promotion. Packaged For Success also offers communication and productivity improvement training for employees and supervisors and provides consultation on building sustainable, impactful, socially responsible community programs.
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