For the past few years, having stores open on Thanksgiving has become a popular trend. The sales have started earlier on the day known as Gray Thursday. Now, the Mall of America has taken a bold stand and is closing its doors on Thanksgiving. They are very excited in giving the day back to their workers so they can spend time with their family.
With the largest mall in the US closing its doors on a day that is spent with family, will other stores follow suit? Unfortunately, for the majority, the answer is no. The CEOs of many retail stores and restaurants would rather make money instead of allowing their workers to be with their family. People wake up on the mornings of holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, and instead of getting ready for a big family dinner, or opening presents, they have to get dressed and go to work. For some people, they only get to see their family on holidays because of distance and time. Now, the stores have taken this chance away from them.
Parents don't get to enjoy seeing their kids opening their presents in the morning. Someone might not get to make it in the annual family photo. College students might not even get to come home. All because of corporate greed.
Of course, there are the few lucky employees who asked off in time. But, there are a limited number who are allowed to do that. Sometimes, it's always the same employees every year. This might start to cause resentment among the other workers who want off also. It's almost never the CEOs who suffer this unfortunate circumstance. They have the choice to stay home and experience all the holiday joy without having to worry about work until the next day. What happened to the days when everything closed on holidays except for hospitals? Once upon a time, even being open on Sundays was shocking. Being open on holidays was not even considered. People believed in the importance of family and being there for them. Now, we believe in money and how to make more.
It isn't just the CEOs who are guilty of making the stores remain open. It is also the people who decide to go to the stores, all to save a couple bucks. Do people really need to go out on Thanksgiving? The biggest sale day of the year is the very next day! What is so important that you can't wait one more day to get? Not only is there Black Friday, we also have Cyber Monday. So, if the store sells out of an item, you can still go online and get a good sale price for the same thing. Do the customers not realize that because they keep coming, the employees are missing out on important moments? Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. These are the days that people spend the most time with their family. Even government buildings and schools close on these days. Why not retail? Let's try to get back to the time where companies cared about families and about families. We all need to help bring this back. When the customers stop coming, the stores will start closing.
