We Killed Thanksgiving and Nobody Cares

The loss of your precious time marches onward

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, but you’d never know it based on how many companies decided to stay open in some manner.

It was predicted by pundits (myself included) for many years now. Since Thanksgiving isn’t a religious holiday, it would eventually be taken away from workers to get a jump on supposed Christmas sales.

A similar argument was made for ending Sunday closures in retail as well. Problem is, those first Sunday openings didn’t generate additional sales. They shifted sales from Friday, Saturday and Monday to a day they hadn’t been before. Much the same is happening with Thanksgiving openings, to the point where phase two is occurring — the acknowledgement and spreading of sales to additional days both before and after Thanksgiving day.

The effect all this has on staff is enormous, but no one will care. “If they don’t like it, just get another job!” is the oft-repeated canard. An interesting statement to make in a time when work is far from plentiful. Perhaps it should be the rallying cry of the Great Resignation movement we’re now seeing.

Thanksgiving is just one of a list of holidays that have fallen for the workers. If you are old enough, you may remember closing (at least a half-day) on July 4, Labor Day, Memorial Day and others. Thanksgiving was just one of many dominoes in that line.

There is a small counter-movement to holiday openings, but frankly, it won’t last. The genie is out of the bottle and will never be put back in. As far as employers are concerned, workers can lump it.

So when young ones ask what the hoopla about Thanksgiving was all about, remember this time and what once was — as you head off to buy your stuff.

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