BOYCOTT 'BLACK THANKSGIVING'!!

This will be the first year I will not be working the day after Thanksgiving since 2000...  I've worked retail since 2001 in a management capacity, and I can't say that I am not thrilled at the prospect of waking up on Black Friday somewhere around the crack of 10...maybe 11. 

In either case, there will be me and at least one pooch - most likely 2 - enjoying this slumber, as I am flying home for the Thanksgiving holiday - a FAMILY holiday if there ever was one - to see MY family.

Some may forget that THIS IS THE ONLY HOLIDAY EVERYONE CELEBRATES!  It is not religious in origin, nor is it political.  It is a day to reflect on what we have and be thankful for it.  You may not be where you want to be in life, but you can enjoy what it is that you have that allows you to pursue your dreams. It is a day for Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Masons, Shintos and Shitheads, Democrats, Republicans, Tea-baggers, etc...

So why in the HELL are retail establishments opening?  AND WHY ARE YOU SHOPPING?!?!?!

Retailers who open on Thanksgiving say "Well, if we don't do it someone else will and we will lose the sale."  Lemme tell you something...if you are a solid business, with strong customer service, and some KILLER deals teed up for Black Friday, then people will wait until the day AFTER Thanksgiving to visit you and give you their money. That is how it was done for years, and it seemed to be working as it was.

The people that do shop on Thanksgiving perpetuate this madness. I GUARANTEE these are the same people that say that 'family values' are gone in this country.  Take a look at yourself first - YOU ARE OUT SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING! 

If you have never worked retail, the amount of prep work that goes in to readying a store (or a chain of stores) for the entire holiday shopping season is dizzying.  Months of planning, brokering deals with distributors, marketing, design, shipping and distribution, merchandising, etc, etc.  Millions of man hours are utilized for this - and the ONE day that they should be spending time with their families before all the madness ensues is spent working in a store, dealing with crazy consumers who will knife one another for a $35 Blu-Ray player.  Retail professionals are in these stores HOURS before the doors open to get the store ready, so they blow pretty much the entirety of Thanksgiving prepping.

Example:  Macy's has announced that ALL of their stores will be open at 8pm on Thanksgiving.  That means that people will have to arrive starting at 4pm and possibly as early as 2pm to start getting ready for the throngs of shoppers that will barrel through their doors.  Which means that they have to finish Thanksgiving festivities between 12pm and 3 pm in order to get ready, dressed, and get to the store.  I don't know about you, but I have never been part of a Turkey day that is over by Noon. 

Or maybe you want to run over to Toys R Us, which opens at 5PM!  Talk about ruining a day for families...

Then you have those that have to work the overnight shift - you know, the 12am Midnight openings for Black Friday (which, ironically, there are less of because stores are opening on Thanksgiving and staying open until close of business on Black Friday).  Probably in bed by 3 or 4 to get enough sleep to last the rest of the night into the early morning helping greedy, grubby consumers with their $1.99 sheet sets.  All in the name of the holiday season.

Almost every establishment that deals in commerce (save for restaurants, some supermarkets, and some pharmacies) close for Christmas, a Catholic/Christian holiday.  Yet they are open on Thanksgiving - a day for everyone.  Where is the logic? 

I have tons of respect for companies like P.C. Richard & Sons - a NY/NJ electronics retailer - who outright REFUSE to open on Thanksgiving.  On their website they state:

"It is our opinion that retailers who choose to open on Thanksgiving Day or Night show no respect to their employees and families, and are in total disrespect of family values in the United States of America".

A strong statement to say the least, and if I still lived in NY, I'd shop there on Friday

There should be a call for a boycott of all NON-ESSENTIAL RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS THAT ARE OPEN ON THANKSGIVING.  If you don't shop in those stores on that day, it is no longer worth their time or money to stay open.  We, as consumers, are not DEMANDING they open...consumers are BUYING IN to their marketing machines that say IT'S OK TO SHOP ON THIS DAY.  Without our buy-in, there is no need to open.

Also, why not do a Black WEDNESDAY and a Black Friday?  Start your sales at 8PM on Wed evening and stay open 'til Midnight...then CLOSE, and reconvene around 5am on Black Friday, as usual.  Everyone gets a day of rest, and you PROBABLY will get more sales than you would on Thanksgiving.  Just sayin'.


Black Friday has been around more or less as a financial term since the 60's, but it's only in the past 20 years that it has grown into this craziness.  Thanksgiving has been celebrated for 400 years, give or take. 

Do the math - which deserves our respect and attention more?  Then again, maybe you really, REALLY need to save an additional $5 on that new hot toy.  Better yet, spend the money that you would have spent buying gifts on Thanksgiving and use it to visit a relative, or an old friend.  Memories last forever...toys break, sweaters stretch, and shirts go out of style.

What do you readers think?  If you agree, feel free to share this with someone.  Maybe it gets far enough to where it does some good.  Or at least makes someone think.

One last thing - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!