Black Friday Shopping? Not this girl.

There is a pledge out there to not shop on Thanksgiving. The idea behind it is to give people time with their families and this is an idea I agree with. However, I also know that many of the people working on holidays volunteer to do so because they make time and a 1/2 or double time and this is money they really need.

I won't shop on Thanksgiving, because I'll be home, chilling on the couch with my hubby and boys, probably watching football, but I'm not going to join the pledge. I just think it is wrong to assume that everyone wants off work on Thanksgiving.

When I worked in retail, I sometimes wanted to work holidays for the extra cash, especially around Christmastime.

What I find ridiculous about the holiday shopping time and why I totally understand the organized pledge, is the fact that the day most dreaded by all in the retail industry (minus the CEOs), Black Friday, is now starting on Thursday evening. This is just disgusting to me. Again, the consumer culture I bitched about in a previous post. I'm sure with the terrible economy, this year will be worse than ever, because more folks will be searching for a good deal.

I feel for the workers. I know what Black Friday shoppers are like. Hell, I know what the next few weeks will be like for them. I worked at Macy's, where women threw clothes into giant heaps on the floor, DEFECATED in the fitting rooms, hardly spoke to the employees who were helping them, and then bitched about prices. Really? Shop somewhere else, please!

It was horrible. I found working on Sundays and the weeks around Christmas to be the absolute worst. The same people who went to restaurants after church and skimped on tips for their waiters were the rude people at the department store. What do they think, because they heard a sermon and sang praises to god for an hour, that they were free to treat others like crap?

If you plan to shop this holiday season, please be couteous to the workers, even if they are having a hard time smiling. Many will have been working since before sunrise, so you can enjoy a 50 cent discount on whatever overpriced item you are fighting over. Sure, maybe you've been up just as long, but you're not WORKING. There is a difference.

Smile, say please and thank you, and remember, despite what you think, you're not the center of the universe and no one owes you anything.

Just saying.