This is my first time having a job in retail and I really do enjoy the job. I get a discount on all merchandise, pretty flexible schedule and I still have time for sports and school activities. What I don't like is Holiday hours, Black Friday in particular.

What started out as midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning turned into an all day Thanksgiving affair. People leaving their families at 3 or 4 in the afternoon to go stand in line outside their favorite stores or malls with the Black Friday catalog in one hand and a Starbucks in the other. I heard stories of people sleeping overnight in tents for a couple days just to be first in line.The question here is, is there anything you need THIS bad? Sure your TV broke and you have to buy a new one. But is it worth leaving your family on a holiday that is about thanks and togetherness to go get it? Don't forget about that favorite brand of pants you wear that are buy one get one free! If you need a pair of jeans that badly, then you can take the time to buy them any other day.

I already was not able to go home for Thanksgiving, but then I had to stay at school for the week and spend it be myself because I worked every day of my school break. I had to be at work at 5:45 on Thanksgiving day because our store opened at 6:00! I could not even eat a Thanksgiving dinner because I had to be serving customers in store. Why do we feel the need to shop on this day? Are the deals of Black Friday really any different from another day, or do major companies just try and make it seem like it so you will go out and spend a lot of money? I for one have never even been shopping on Black Friday and working this year was my first time to ever be out. It never occurred to me to leave my family and the comfort of my home just for a few sales. I look forward to the holidays because it's one of the few times I usually get to see all my family and HELLO, holiday meals!!! What is not to love about that? If you leave, you miss the best part which is dessert.

My family has always taught me about how temporary material items are. Everything here on Earth is temporary, so why would I need to drop family time just to drop some money. I would rather have the memories I share with the people I love than a new flat screen t.v. and some cheap Nike's. We need to be the generation that learns to love the life we live and be thankful for those that are in it and for the things we have been blessed with. One day we will not have all these things around us and we will wish we cherished the time we did have.