This is just a sample of the things I have to do before next Friday.
1. Work 9 hours days every day except Thanksgiving day, starting as early as 5 am and going as late as 11pm
2. Help my husband make Thanksgiving dinner for a group of friends
3. Get the house cleaned for that dinner
4. Make food for two separate work potlucks
5. Attempt to get some Christmas gifts wrapped and ready to send with other family when they visit for Thanksgiving
6. Buy new shoes so my feet don't hate me after those long work days
I hope to be able to squeeze in some time to work on my sewing for the Force Awakens and I will update you on my progress after the holiday.
Boycott Black Thursday is a movement online where people are pushing for stores to remain closed on Thanksgiving Day. I hearty approve of this idea. Everyone deserves to have a day off to spend time with their families and be thankful for the things they have. However I want to say that it's not enough.
Shopping on Black Friday also prevents people from spending time with family.
I have personal experience on this point. We have spent the last several Thanksgivings with my husband's family who recently moved to Colorado. Even though my parents live just a few houses down the street from us we rarely have dinner with them because they spend the holiday weekend in Wichita visiting my brother and niece. He works in food service and also only has Thanksgiving day itself off. So this year we have no family to spend time. Everyone will be together for the holidays except us. We got a phone call from my mother-in-law a while back asking my husband if he would be coming out to Colorado and we'd really like to but one day isn't enough time to drive a state and a half away, spend any time relaxing with family, and get home again in time to be rested for a long hard work day in the morning.
We have made a similar trip before. The year my sister-in-law passed away we made a point of spending the holiday with my brother. I was scheduled to close Wednesday before and didn't get off of work until almost 11pm. My husband drove and I snoozed. All that sitting after the long work day made me super stiff and achy. Thanksgiving itself was pretty good. We all helped cook and had a nice time catching up over dinner... But we had to leave right after dinner so that we could get home and put me to bed because I have to be at work at 5:30 am on Friday, meaning I had to be out of bed by 4:30 am.
This last example is not from my own experience but a former co-worker left her job because she choose to return home and spend one last Thanksgiving with a dying family member. I don't really know if she was fired because she refused to work or if she quit when they tried to force her to come in but either way it wasn't a fair way to treat a person.
Celebrate on another Day
People who want to shop on Black Friday always make the argument that retail workers can/ should simply celebrate with their families on an alternate weekend. That's a fairly valid argument if everyone involved is able. I don't feel like the spirit of the holiday or family time should be constrained to that one day.
The problem comes when there is no other time available. Celebrating on another weekend hasn't really ever worked out for our family. Retail schedules are erratic and my 'weekend' days don't tend to match up with the 'weekend' that my brother gets. Add in black outs for using vacation time between Halloween and New Years and it becomes nearly impossible to celebrate Thanksgiving together at anywhere close to a relevant time.
Holiday Pay
A common argument for people working the holiday is extra pay. Unfortunately a lot of retail employees don't get holiday pay for Black Friday. My husband didn't at any of the retail jobs he worked and I don't get it now. It actually surprised some of my husband's coworkers to learn that I don't get time and a half. It's something that most people make incorrect assumptions about.
Volunteer Workers Only
Another thing that people make assumptions about are companies using only volunteers to work on these day. While I believe it could be possible I don't think it's true. The facebook page for the Boycott Black Thursday movement is filled with testimonials from people who work for companies that claim to use only volunteers but are threatening to fire people if they try to take the day off.
Hospital/ Police/ Armed Forces Don't Get the Time Off
This is the final argument that people give for not wanting stores to close on Black Friday, why should retail workers get the day off when police officers, doctors and nurses, and soldiers don't? I don't have an answer to this one except to say that I agree it's not fair. Those professions require someone constantly on call in case of emergency, they are necessary to keep society functioning. Retail workers are not, they could get a weekend off without people dying as a result. Banks are closed for the weekend, does that mean they deserve it more than soldiers? I feel like everyone deserves to get the weekend off and that we should work toward making it possible for as many people as possible.
I understand that this post isn't likely to change a lot of minds on this issue. All I ask is that you stop to think a moment about how your actions may affect other people. Hopefully in years to come there will better solutions and everyone will be able to make time for their families without having to risk losing their livelihood to do so. The company R.E.I. is a great example, all of their stores will be closed both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Their employees have a paid holiday and they are backing up their company values by encouraging people to spend their holiday outside with family. Learn more about the Opt Outside campaign here. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving, take time to appreciate the people and things in your life that you can be grateful for and I'll see you next week.
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