Many retail giants are in effect putting
pressure on one another to either be open
Thanksgiving Day or to have earlier hours on the
holiday. I think that Black Friday should remain
the big shopping day, out of consideration for
people's family gatherings and to honor the true
meaning of Thanksgiving, which isn't
Christmas shopping.
If this continues to be an issue, I would
actually propose moving Thanksgiving to Fridays
and to make the Thursday before the designated
shopping day. That way the pressure to have the
first sale does not become an issue of
disruption for holiday gatherings.
Sadly, this is is a sign of where our
unbalanced, consumer-crazed society is in terms
of the lack of family stability, honor of
tradition, and basic respect for employees.