Dear Dr. Babooner,
I am appalled … APPALLED! … that more stores are making the decision to open on Thanksgiving Day.
The sad fact is – a covetous frenzy has already swallowed the formerly peaceful time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now now comes this terrible news that the disease has spread into Thanksgiving Day – the last major holiday we had that offered any shred of solemnity or respite from commercialism. Thanksgiving is a family day and it’s supposed to be spent WITH family, not in the company of depressed store clerks who were forced to leave THEIR families so they could put in a few hours earning the miserable pittance their chain-store masters pay them. What a travesty!
Having said that, I have to admit that I’d really love to get out of the house as soon as the meal is done.
I always spend the several days preceding T-Day as well as early Thanksgiving morning working like a woman possessed to get everything ready for the feast. I plan the meal, I cook the meal and I serve the meal. When it’s time to do the dishes, my (male, mostly) relatives sit back in the living room and groan and grouse like they’ve done something difficult by merely eating, while I and a few other females are left to clean up.
Getting an early jump on Christmas shopping and scoring some amazing deals is just the excuse I need to leave those slugs with the dirty dishes. And I have to admit it – going to the mall is a form of relaxation for me.
Dr. Babooner, I hate it that Christmas has invaded Thanksgiving. Would it be wrong to shop anyway?
Conflictedly,
Buyer’s Remorse in Advance.
I told BRIA that since she does all the necessary work to get the Thanksgiving meal on the table, she does not need an “excuse” to skip doing the dishes. The decision by several major retailers to open for business on Thanksgiving Day has put her in a terrible position. I told Bria she Must Not Shop on Thanksgiving Day, no matter how alluring the deals. But if a bargain materializes that is too good to pass up, she can send one of the groaning lugs from her living room with a fistful of cash. The chances are good that he hates shopping, and his loutish presence at the bargain bin mosh pit may cause the corporate gun-jumpers to reconsider their strategy.
And as an alternative, he might volunteer to clean up instead!
But that’s just one opinion. What do YOU think, Dr. Babooner?
Trail Baboon 
Is it now to be called Brown Thursday? Gravy Thursday? Brown Gravy Thursday?
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thursday is the new friday
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Good morning. Thanksgiving is exhausting. I don’t know how anyone could have any energy or time left on that day to go shopping. If you only have a small gathering of people or no guests and don’t get carried away with the meal, you might have some time and energy left to go shopping, BRIA. However, is it really Thanksgiving if you don’t have a house full of people and enough food for an army? I don’t see how you could explain to your guests that once the big feast is over, you are going to leave to do some shopping.
I think the only way you could do shopping would be to keep the meal simple, only have few people as guests, and send them home fairly early. Even if you can keep the meal and the guest list under control, would you be up for shopping? I would not want to spoil a Thanksgiving day that didn’t completely wear me out by going on a shopping trip. If doing some shopping is something you would like to fit into Thanksgiving, BRIA, it’s a free world. I wouldn’t do it.
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i think the whole idea of getting away from the family has been swept under the rug like a unspoken family leper for years and years. i always felt sorry for the poor millionaire football player who were forced to paly football on thanksgiving and miss out on the turkey we all find so meaningful and theraputic. at our house the football is not allowed to be included at the thanksgiving day table.we used to be able to schedule dinner for after the second game but then this being america enough is good too much is better so they added another game. i havnt checked to see if they added a fourth game to take it all the way through californias whole day now too. my sons have a thanksgiving day tradition of going to the outlet stores an hour away and getting 3000 dollars designer coats and shoes for only 400 at these marvelous sales. they are reminiscing about the old days when they braved the cold november sidewalks to get in line for the big opening of the black friday event when the doors opened at 5am they left at midnight to get to the parking lot and rest up before the big moment then opening moved to 3am then midnight then 10 now as soon as the dallas and detroit football games are over. i am kind of thinking the next step will be to have big screen tvs and strategically placed buffet tables loaded with turkey mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie for the patrons who want to shop without the bother of dealing with all that thanksgiving day drudgery. what are all those people doing coming over trying to sponge a meal anyway? the best part of all those black friday sales is that in addition to getting those 100 dollar boots for only 39.95 you can take your savings and get yourself that special little something all those slugs back home would never get for you anyway. amazon dot com will deliver the purchases to your house while you shop and the us mail has agreed to put mail delivery in place 24/7 for the holiday season to pitch in too. the country is going broke but walmart and amazon can bail us out with all their internet delivery promotions. fed ex will be busy flying fisher price and xbox games out to the nearest distribution center where the delivery drivers will load the bundles of joy into the back of the jolly little pre sugar plummed vans to bring them to little darlings who so deserve the latest iphone accessories and apple store gift cards for the stockings. the kids dont get to pull the beards off those santas with bobby pins and bad boots anymore , santa at the mall looks like he won the audition for the next blockbuster movie from hollywood. the only people complaining are those who work in the stores and i hear there are people complaining about how the stores are hiring less people to work this holiday season. what a jip. the least they could do is hire a whole bunch of people who complain about not wanting to work. its the american way
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Just one more reason I am thankful I don’t celebrate any shopping-dependent year-end holidays!
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good to see you again txutxi. when i first began visiting china it was interesting to see how the holidays we consider seasonal get out of whack when in another culture that doesnt understand that the jingle bells song is not a good phone ring in july and they thought you would just like to hear the tune because you are american and americans like christmas. i am sure the chinese new year and moon festival translate differently to me than they wold to a person raised with the understanding of the culture.
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Employed where I am, I must remain neutral on this topic (not because my corporate overlords have told me to, but because, well, the poor slugs who go shopping rather than hanging out with their families help pay my bills – it makes a girl conflicted…). That said, I do feel bad for my co-workers in the stores who not only have to be there when the hordes arrive, but also a couple hours early to get ready for them. I wish them all a good pair of shoes to keep their feet supported & protected and good nap when it’s done.
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One of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere is that there aren’t very many places to go on Thanksgiving Day to shop. Perhaps i am off base here, but why do so many people feel that they don’t have enough things already? Sure, I like to buy things, but mainly when I need them, not because of the time of the year.
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ill bet there is an opportunity to sell stuff to oil workers who are jumping in the truck to drive across the country to be home for the holidays from out there in the middle of nowhere. maybe an internet shopping service where you could order stuff into a spot with a loadign dock for the ups truck to drop the packages at. that of jsut bring in a couple hundred pairs of uggs for everones daughters wives sisters and all you need it a color and a size and a credit card machine.
buy it when you need it instead of when you want it… communist.
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Plain Jane said the same thing!
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You didn’t call her a communist!
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Rather than coming up with an excuse, BRIA and her fellow women need to insist on their right to enjoy the holiday. If demands that the work gets shared fall on deaf ears, leave the house for a nice brisk walk in the park and take the TV remote with you. If the dishes aren’t done when you get back and you really want to get out of the house, you could go to a movie–someone still has to give up their Thanksgiving for the theater to be open, but at least that’s a long-standing tradition. Theaters have been open on holidays for years and years, as witness the Jewish Christmas–Chinese food and a show.
I found out about Small Business Saturday two years ago from friends who own a small store. It’s a nice follow-up on my celebration of Buy Nothing Day. Last year I bought half my gifts from local businesses and half from Etsy. I’ve also gotten nice stuff at the Women’s Art Festival at the Midtown YWCA, definitely recommended. Bazaars and craft fairs are so much more fun than fighting your way through the aisles at some big box store.
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BTW, I realize Small Business Saturday was created by American Express, but I figure it’s a good idea regardless. I don’t have credit cards anymore, just the debit card from my credit union, so Amex isn’t getting much out of it from me.
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I have gotten many wonderful things at the Women’s Art Festival at the YWCA – so many lovely and unique things there. Some years I have gotten almost all of my shopping for grown-ups done in my shopping through the tables and booths (plus a few kid things, too).
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Hi,
For the first time in several years we’re not hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year. Son will be staying in Chicago with his girlfriend– (because she’s in retail and working the big T-day sales) and Kellys brother and his wife have a new large home and six kids so *they’re* hosting. Yaay!
I guess that means we’re free to shop. Wait, we’ll be in Treampeleau WI… maybe we can stop in Nelson and get cheese and ice cream at the big T-Day sale?
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by rhinelander?
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I’ve never hosted T-Day but it looked like I’d have to this year – until – my daughter, who’s apparently in a giving mood -hatched a plan. She thinks the whole family, including 10 grandchildren, should do the walk for cancer (or maybe hunger?) at the MOA, then have brunch together. At that point, the youngest need to be napped. The last leg of the plan would be to all come to the cottage later for a fire, dessert, and music. Now then, the music part is the only thing causing me work because they’ll all expect me to play my piano and I haven’t for three years. This means that I’ll have to practice if I don’t want to embarrass myself! She also wants her brother to play his 12-string guitar and I’m pretty sure that he needs to brush up as well. I have to admit, however, that this late-day gathering sounds kinda Hallmarkish. It’ll be the first time in three years that all 10 grand kids will be in the same room, so many pictures will be taken.
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CB, that sounds like a lovely plan. I did the Walk for Hunger a few years ago and may do it again this year. I found it surprising how quickly one can circumnavigate the MOA with everyone going in the same direction.
Your piano, your son’s guitar, the fire, the dessert, the photo ops. That’s the way it should be. (the piano and guitar playing don’t need to be perfect)
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turkey legs on a stick cooking over the fire? baked potatoes in tin foil on the edge? hot buttered rum and smores. who could ask for anything more.
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I’m not into telling other people what they should do or think. Shopping on Thanksgiving wouldn’t be my thing, but my mother was such a loving shopper that she made shopping a joyful act. And in the case of some families . . . well, being shopping instead of being with them is a positive step toward mental balance. With all of its faults, our culture has the virtue of celebrating choices. It doesn’t ruin my good spirits that people now have the choice available of shopping instead of over-eating with relatives. All of us who are not children should, by now, know what makes us happy and what burns our toast. We should all do what makes us healthy and good natured . . . always remembering that being good to others really makes most of us feel good.
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My wife loves every aspect of this season, which for her starts on 7/1. She, too,has always made a joy of shopping for others, so in past years by the time Christmas would come she would not know what was in many of the presents. With her memory now fading she cannot remember what she has bought for whom the next day. So I have started keeping a list for her.
My daughter loves it too, but in a different way. She loves finding the perfect present at the best price. She has it all done by Halloween. In which she also relishes. But she goes out on Black Friday with friends just to be in the crowds and how it all feels. Her friends meet at our apartment and I drive them the mile to the mall so they do not have to worry about parking (and the lot is full). And we get to babysit those two of our grandkids for that time, always a pleasure.
Since my wife and I no longer give each other large presents, but give to local charities, I do not have to shop at all. My daughter buys stocking-stuffers for my wife in my name, loving to have more money to enjoy the experience. This year I am giving art supplies and personal items for men to the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center, a mission our church (a mile or two from the SPRTC) always supports. I do not think many folks give art supplies, tending to think of it as a frivolous thing for those people. I suspect it is vital for some. As the woman who lives above me says (she works there), even serial killers need Christmas presents. They require all gifts be new, which is understandable, but I wish I could give them the art stuff I can no longer use with my bad hands.
BUT, none of us will shop on Thanksgiving. It’s just not who we are. I bet the open stores will thrive and next year more stores will do it and then they will move it back to 6 and then to 3 and then to noon. Sigh. I sigh for the world on this. If my fingers let me, I will put up a quote I read last night related to this.
(This got long for me. How many errors will I see after I post?)
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you done good clyde. do you know the cut and paste trick for the quotes?
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It’s in a book.
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Hey all! I’m not sure I get to have an opinion here because I’m pretty much outside the craziness here. I go to a dear friend’s house for T-Day, where everyone, including the stuffed males, helps out. And I make almost all my gifts and cards so I don’t hit the malls between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kind of how I feel about elections… I ALWAYS vote, because then I feel I have earned the right to gripe about politics and elected officials. So since I don’t shop, I’m not sure I get a gripe here!
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i used to love going out and just waiting for the right item to hit me. i did a lot of shopping at the knick knack side of gabberts. they have al that cool stuff on the desk and dresser tops in the bookcases and on the coffee tables and wher they charge lots for the coffee table the bronze and pewter ornamental box for 12 bucks and the maltese falcon form the book case for 16 dollars are not bad at all. people would look oddly ant my selections but heck its a wonderful little trifle that will be as nondescript and unnecessary on your book case as it was on gabberts but its fun to pick out. ho ho ho
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I’m not convinced that it is having to work on Thanksgiving that is the cause of all the consternation; lots or people have to work on holidays. It’s the idea of it being so unnecessary when it comes to retail. Personally, I don’t enjoy shopping and do it only when necessary, and then preferably at a time when the fewest people will be in the stores. To each his own, I guess, but I can’t imagine a bargain tempting enough that I’d venture anywhere near a mall or a department store on Thanksgiving, or any other day when it will be crowded for that matter.
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These guys have a better idea:
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I’m glad I don’t work in retail anymore. That’s all I can say.
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I did a three month stint in retail with W.T. Grant in Riverhead, NY the summer before I started college. Had a blast, possibly because I knew it wouldn’t be a long-term career.
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When I was working in retail there were always some folks who wanted the time and half for working on a holiday. I remember one year when we had a HUGE new marketing plan that had to be set up between closing on Christmas Eve and opening on the day after. Six of my employees, three of whom were Jewish, volunteered to do the work on Christmas Day. They had a riot, ordered pizza and made a wad of cash. Hopefully everyone who works on Thanksgiving will get to choose it!
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These days, time and a half in a retail job is probably not all that much. I kind of hate to see people jump at it, although there are those that will.
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