Shop on Thanksgiving? No thanks

[proud2BlibKansan]

Written by my friend, Judy Ancel. :)

By Judy Ancel, Special to CNN

Editor's note: Judy Ancel is a labor educator and the director of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Labor Studies. She hosts a weekly radio show, "The Heartland Labor Forum," on KKFI 90.1 FM, Kansas City Community Radio.

Kansas City, Missouri (CNN) -- Big-box stores are stealing Thanksgiving, and their workers aren't happy about it. After Target decreed that Black Friday would start at midnight Thanksgiving night and that employees must report to work at 11 p.m., an Omaha worker, Anthony Hardwick, posted a petition at Change.org asking the company to move the official start of Christmas shopping back to 5 a.m. Friday. Response from workers and others has been stellar: 192,000 signatures by Monday.

Best Buy will also be opening at midnight, so Rick Melaragni, a Tampa employee, posted a similar petition. It currently has 14,000 signatures.

Why did this hit such a nerve? Hardwick's petition says, "A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation -- all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!" But he will have to cut out on the family to grab some sleep, because he'll be up all night working. Melaragni told The Huffington Post that Best Buy will be showing a Harry Potter movie to customers camped outside, so some employees will have to report to work by 8 p.m. to set up.

Walmart is the leader in this year's great race to gobble up employee turkey time. It announced its opening at 10 p.m. Thursday. Since two-thirds of Walmart's hourly workers are women, many will arrive exhausted after cooking the family feast.

more . . . http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/opinion/ancel-thanksgiving-shop/index.html

[csziggy]

1. Heck, Kinko's used to be open on Thanksgiving!

Before FedEx bought it. Several years hubby worked Turkey Day. The strange thing was that they would get enough business to justify being open. Most of it was printing photos at the photo kiosk, but sometimes people brought in documents to be copied.

[glowing]

2. I'm in the hotel biz.. I'll be working a long shift that night too.

and so will a lot of restaurants that serve Thanksgiving Dinner.. I never realized how many people go out to dinner on that day, rather than cook for themselves until I worked at a restaurant back in the day that specifically created a buffet style meal... It was amazing how many people bring their whole large families out for dinner... It just seems wrong.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. A co-worker canceled her Thanksgiving dinner. She was planning on 40 guests.

Her sister is dying. Hospice told the family Monday she would pass in a few days. So 40 people now have new Thanksgiving plans and some may indeed end up in a restaurant.

I have another friend whose mom just had a stroke and she and her dad are planning a quiet dinner in a restaurant.

I can't find anything wrong with either of these families. And I'm grateful there are restaurants open for them tomorrow.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

8. Agreed ! There are also elderly folks who are not up to

cooking the big meal and have no local family to do it. Its good that they have a place to go for a nice meal. When you work in hospitality or health care, you have to expect work some holidays.

[pstokely]

12. Hope they tip well

nt

[beac]

3. Wonder if drunk-driving arrests will be up nationwide as

people who should be home sleeping it off instead allow their impaired judgment to convince them that saving a few bucks on cheap crap from China is worth getting behind the wheel? Not to mention potential fatalities.

[Morning Dew]

4. Thank God retailers are so responsive to consumer demand !!

Or at least they're calling that. I can't imagine there's been a lot of calls, letters or emails asking them for even earlier Black Friday store hours.

They think they can turn a buck - simple as that.


Were they really responsive to public desire, they'd stock some American made product and quit outsourcing customer service jobs.

[Archae]

5. Big Lots is open Thanksgiving day.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Ugh, Target is a shithole, I refuse to go there.

Unbelievable. That said, I've had crappo retail gigs where they'd make us work on Thanksgiving, too. Fucking evil.

[LWolf]

9. My local family has rearranged the day 3 times to try to cope

with the work schedules of those working in retail. It looked like we couldn't find a single day or time this week that everyone could attend.

The current plan is to eat at about 2:00; my son will get home from work in the early hours and immediately start cooking; his SO will be home by about 2:00. We'll shut down at about 5:00 so he can get some sleep; a few hours and off to work at 11:00.

Meanwhile, my oldest son called me yesterday from 1200 miles away to rant; he went to a Best Buy in his area and had to wade through a dozen tents set up in front of the store, all waiting for the midnight "Black Friday" opening. He, feeling the distance since we haven't seen him in 2 years because budget/economy issues have kept anyone from traveling, was ranting about people who would rather camp out to buy stuff than spend time with their families.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. That is horrible.

Hope you have a great day tomorrow, regardless.

[LWolf]

11. It will be warm, simple, and as easy as we can make it.

Have a wonderful day, yourself!

:hi: