Black (and Blue) Friday

Ahhh--the holiday season is here again.  I have shopped for Christmas present and I have also worked retail at Christmas so I have been on both sides of the Christmas rush.  Generally I am more of a last minute shopper but there have been a few years when I found my self out at the stores on Black Friday, being pushed and shoved through crowds and being herded through the lines at the cash register.  I guess the chaos of Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season is part of the deal when you work in retail over the holidays and I get it.

But I have noticed that more and more retail stores have started opening on Thursday night--Thanksgiving--to get a jump on Black Friday.  Just as a few examples...Walmart opens at 8:00 p.m. and Toys 'R' Us opens at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.  So that means that a group of unfortunate employees have to pull themselves away from Thanksgiving festivities and go to work.  I know that these business are there to make money and that employees in retail should expect some inconvenient or late hours over the holiday season but I really think that people in retail deserve at least one FULL day off to enjoy with their friends and families--especially since they are gonna be running around like crazy for the 5 or 6 weeks after Thanksgiving.  I think it is more then reasonable for stores to open crazy early on Friday morning (even at like 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.) so they are open for those customers who are really itching for those Black Friday deals.  That way the store is still open but their employees have had the chance to enjoy a day off.

And maybe there are some people who don't mind working on Thanksgiving night but I think generally it's good for employee morale for a company to give all of their employees a full day off--not to worry about work and just to enjoy spending the day with friends, family, pets or however else they would most enjoy it.