Thanksgiving…. that time for family, friends.. and Thanksgiving Day Shopping?!?!?

You all remember that holiday when we were young… The holiday where you got to sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table and share family stories of holidays gone by and connect with family members. You may even have been able to catch some football before playing a card game or dominos in the evening before you and your cousins retired to bed for the evening.. This holiday which used to be the kick off to the holiday season was important because it was a day where nothing was open and it was a holiday that was meant to be spent with family members.

Now before I post about the negatives of this holiday and the mass takeover of the retail industry and the continued push to cut back on family time for profits, let me say what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my family, who continues to support me even though I have chosen about 100 different career paths on my young adulthood life. I am thankful that I have a job where I play an important part in changing the holidays for many families who are suffering with substance abuse issues. I am also thankful for the government, who continues to support the United States and protect us every single day. I am thankful for the future, because I know that we can continue to improve on what it is today. I am thankful for the fighters in our country, who see an injustice and continue to fight for the little guy or those families who are suffering through holiday seasons. I am thankful for the good samaritans in our country who do the little things for people without acknowledgment every single day because they want to make the world a better place. I am thankful that I am in a comfortable place and have my health, love, and support from all of those around me. I am also thankful for the opportunities that I have been given over the past year and am excited about next year’s possibilities.

Insert the things I am not thankful for. This holiday that I described at the beginning of my post continues to get degraded year after year by retailers who want to liquidate their assets and build huge profits. Black Friday, or Black Thursday Night as it should be called, has continued to get increasingly earlier and earlier. These retailers continue year after year to choose a time earlier and earlier so they can attract the larger crowds. Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with the people that want to get a good buy or go out and purchase items for the holiday season or get that dream toy for their child at a ridiculous price. I will take my full price item and not have to deal with the lines and the headaches, but that’s just me. However, I want people to think about the people who don’t have a choice in the matter. All those individuals who are working at minimum wage jobs that don’t really have a choice to work or not to work. The individuals that are working paycheck to paycheck and trying to continuously get ahead in life.

These are the individuals that are most hurt by this holiday. These individuals already work 40 hours a week just trying to support their families and got just a 1 day break to spend with their family. Also, for those who have said to me that they know going into their jobs that they have to work holidays, let me tell you something… I worked retail.. I worked retail for a long time. Yes, it is understood that you may be required to work some holidays, but its not a choice. Many employees are either required to work at whatever time their store’s Black Friday hours or lose their jobs. Also, when you are working paycheck to paycheck and you are getting time and a half to work for a shift, I would dare you to turn that down as well.

Wal-Mart in 2012, posted a 59.1 BILLION dollar sale day on Black Friday and yet a majority of their workers are still paid minimum wage, don’t enjoy many benefits, are overworked, and are working paycheck to paycheck. I am not against Black Friday, but can we get some reason with our start times.. lets roll back the start time to 6 a.m. on Friday morning, like reasonable people. I am sure that extra 6 hours does not make that much difference in a company worth trillions…

This year, I will boycott Black Friday shopping, not because I dislike the headaches, the lines, the pushing, the shoving, the show… but I am boycotting it because I disagree with what it has become and what it is continuing to take away from other families. It’s not fair and it’s time for the government to step in and put a stop to the nonsense.