I can get over people setting up Christmas decorations a little early while it is still semi-nice out, and I can forgive the few people that listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving because I understand how awesome Christmas music is given the right time. But Black Friday has finally overstepped its boundary into my time off.
Over the past five years, I have gone out and done a little Black Friday shopping with family and friends. What first started out as curiosity about what drove people to the craziness of Black Friday has finally come back to square one. Throughout the years, I have picked up some great gifts for others, as well as some great electronics and such that saved me a few bucks.
But in these same years I have been going out time after time, retail companies have been pushing the store openings earlier and earlier. It has gone from opening at 6am Black Friday morning to now 8pm on Thanksgiving night. And while it would be easy to blame these companies for pushing times earlier and earlier, we should also blame ourselves for allowing us to go earlier and earlier.
Working in retail around the holidays is always crazy, and it only gets exponentially more difficult on Black Friday. I have been lucky enough to have not worked the last few Black Fridays (thank God for my friend, the Educational Leave of Absence) but I know many people who are there year in and year out. While before you had a long day of work stretching only a few more hours than normal, now people are needed to work multiple shifts over the course of one "day".
When will they stop searching for a break even point when they can make the most money out of customers, while paying time-and-a-half to keep employees there, while crushing down on time people should be spending wherever makes them happy? What is to stop them from opening the stores at 5pm Thanksgiving Day? Are Christmas decorations going to go on clearance on Christmas Day in the future?
Obviously, some employees are pissed off enough that they are planning a walk-out for Wal-mart. And customers are outraged to the point where people are picketing during shopping hours. Why can't we just go back to the time of walking up early or heading out late Thanksgiving evening to catch a deal? Because they care too much about profits and not about people.
Thanksgiving is about reflection on what you're thankful for. It's about spending time with family, friends, and whoever (or lack there of) you want. Thanksgiving is about sitting back and saying, "I'm glad I can take the time to sit back and say this line, and not worry about everything for a moment."
It's sad that people are forced to contemplate worrying about the next thing they are going to get, rather than enjoy the wonderful things they already have around them. But until enough people show that they value their families, friends, and time, Black Friday will only get worse and worse; I can't wait to see when sales begin 12am on Thanksgiving Day sometime.
Am I going Black Friday shopping? Yes, but don't expect to see me at a store opening. The sale can wait. Life won't.
In the meantime, get off the computer and try to enjoy yourself today, whether that's with your family, friend, or your trusty microphone-turkey leg.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
