Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I honestly think if the stores stopped black friday and each chain did their black friday sales on different days (obviously some overlap will happen) I think it could actually increase sales because won't have to decided which store to target because even with staggered opening hours you can really only be first in line at one store.
All our Doctors, Nurses, Aids, Firemen, Paramedics, Police, and Security Guards.
No one works on Thanksgiving, period.
Let's shutdown the ships at sea, and not think about what happens to the reactors at sea or on shore when unmanned.
Let's power down the grid, and all poo in buckets by candlelight as we can't have the plumbers work either.
You better have your car topped off with gas, and your pantry stocked as we can't have gas station attendants or grocers at work.
Shut the bases down, no need for them to be open with nothing to do, and our troops certainly can't be expected to work on thanksgiving.
Or we can just realize that it's just a day. Just like any other it has 24 hours, and most people will get a few of those off, if even on call or on duty. So appreciate your hours, and if you get the opportunity to work, that's surely something to be thankful for as many are not as fortunate.
Every year I hear people saying that companies are greedy and shouldn't make their workers work on Thanksgiving.
Should the NFL lead the way and don't have games on Thanksgiving day?
Fact is, many people like working on holidays. Reason is they get more pay, and they need all the money they can get. The Walmart work making $10.15/hr loves making the time and half working a holiday, that is extra money to put towards quality of life items for them.
Some people do not get paid for having a holiday off, my first job was like that, a holiday meant no work, but also meant no pay either, which is ok if I was bringing in the big bucks, but I was not, it was a noticeable amount out of my pay.
NFL players get plenty of days off, and for most of them, if they do not like the work schedule, they make enough within five years to quit and never work again, or find a mediocre job and still live nicely, so I do not fee sorry for them.
I am with others on here, let the market decide. If the demand is not there for workers, then the company can make a decision, however in doing so, remember many people like the extra pay that comes with the working on holidays, or they are not paid at all if they do not work, so there are unintended consequences that may arise.
Personally I've never liked the whole entire week of Thanksgiving and would love to have it done away with. Seems like everyone's IQ drops 30 points and their tempers get shorter by half.
Then of course you have Black Friday. No comment or explanation should be required there.
All in all it's a pretty distasteful week. Then you have the mess to look forward to on Monday after letting business sit unattended for 4 days.
For the next six days, I'm scheduled to work eleven hours every day -- 4 PM to 5 AM. This is a natural consequence of my job in a retail / mail-order processing center which does about one-third of its total sales between November 15 and December 23. (I didn't work on Thanksgiving, because I scheduled Thursdays as my regular day off, but about 80 per cent of my co-workers did.)
And nobody needs to shed any tears for me; 26 hours of that work will be paid at the overtime rate, plus an additional "arbitrary" for the hours on Saturday and Sunday. I also have up to 28 hours of (unpaid) leave which I can use to fill in any gaps if the demands "outside the job" become a problem. And optional time off is sometimes offered (but usually not mandated) if inclement weather or other factors disrupt our "supply chain".
So I'm not exactly chained to my workstation; it's generally the younger members of the team, with an active party-life, who find themselves compelled to work without recourse -- because they've previously exhausted most of their flex-time. That seems to be the normal pattern in a number of similar places in which I've worked.
And there seems to be sort of an "urban legend", particularly popular among the younger posters here, that Europe is some sort of a Workers Paradise, with longer or more frequent vacations and little weekend work. But mention is seldom made of the lack of many services we consider "essential" on weekends -- or of the point that some services remain essential and the chores always fall upon those not part of the privileged, senior few.
24-hour/7-day operation is nothing new; it's a natural by-product of the service-oriented society. And speaking just for myself, I find it a lot less stressful than being confined within a workplace holding strictly to the 9-to-5 pattern, where turf wars and office politics tend to turn the atmosphere into something not far removed from junior high school.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 11-26-2015 at 11:17 PM..
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,951,921 times
Reputation: 16466
I agree the NFL should get Thanksgiving off. They already work really hard on Sundays and Monday's. They should also get Superbowl Sunday off too. How can they watch the game if they have to work?
Seems logical to me.
About as logical as paying football players millions of dollars to kick a ball and push each other around.
Don't like workers working on Thanksgiving? Well, that's just no realistic! Hospitals remain open. Police work. Firefighters work. Tow truck guys work. Gas station folks work. Tool booth workers are there collecting your money. Casinos around the country are open as are hotels that must be staffed. The electric company has folks working. If it snows, our town guys are out plowing/sanding/salting.
Why should football or Walmart be excluded? Not everyone celebrates or cares about Thanksgiving. Many people are all alone during the holidays. There are so many faiths and not everybody celebrates the same holidays. It's just another Thursday for many of us!
Police and firefighters and Tow Truck workers are needed it is essential they work. Gas Stations and retail and hotels and restaurants close and the world would not end. Your right not everyone celebrates these holidays but a lot do why should we accommodate a small few and why do they even need to go to these places on that day in the first place?
I think that this is an interesting topic. First of all, I realize that certain professions will always have to work on holidays in this modern world, and also that everyone has a right to observe/celebrate holidays the way that they choose to.
The question I would ask is, what do these traditions say about our culture as a whole?
Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday. It was one of the few remaining American holidays that wasn't totally overrun by consumerism. Aside from the fact that people will have to buy food to celebrate, it is a time to enjoy family and friends without the pressures of gift giving and receiving and all the stress that comes with it. Just to be thankful for what we already have.
In recent years this has changed to the point where Christmas with Black Friday and the beginning of the shopping season, has actually nearly taken over Thanksgiving. People are cutting there family time short to go to work or go fight traffic and crowds to go prepare for the next holiday. Or maybe even worse, they are just going to shop for themselves on the same day they are supposedly trying to be grateful for what they have. One holiday has literally overlapped/taken over another!
America has very few holidays left that even have any original meaning left to them. Many Americans are so goofy, they don't even know what or why the hell they are even celebrating a holiday! I saw a couple Facebook posts this year meant to honor veterans on Labor Day! I've asked people on the 4th of July and many other holidays, what is the reason for the holiday?, and it is amazing how many don't even know.
That maybe another topic to discuss all by itself! I think the short answer to the question of the OP is that too many of us unfortunately, are nothing more than Lemmings who will follow the crowd and or do what ever it is that society seems to be telling us to do!
Thanksgiving and football has a very long tradition, I do not see it the same as working. High schools have played football games on T-Day forever.
Correct!
However, from August - the Super Bowl/Pro Bowl, there are football games every weekend, and every Monday and Thursday evening. Seems like having it also on Thanksgiving is nothing special.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
