Thursday is the New Black
Some children looking at a selection of Christmas Cards during the 1910 holiday season. The New York Times
This year, Black Friday is creeping relentlessly forward into what will be known as Black Thursday. More and more turkeys in the retail industry have decided — some with apparent reluctance — that the best way to give thanks is via the swipe of a credit card and the ka-ching of a cash register. In other words, stuff the stores along with the turkey!
I'm sure management has its reasons for keeping stores open on Thanksgiving Day. Nobody wants to be left behind other retail outlets, like grocery and drug stores, that never seem to close. And, of course, the brick-and-mortar facilities face increasing competition from online retail sites, which have made it much easier for America to shop.
If a rationale other than the dollar sign can be proffered, the moguls of merchandising might insist that people simply love to shop , especially when the lure is a big bargain. And since most of the stores are not swinging open their doors until late afternoon, it might even be argued that mall walking offers a means of offsetting a big Thanksgiving feast.
So why deny folks that pleasurable opportunity in lieu of staying home with family and friends, watching TV, or maybe even talking to one another? There are lots of movie-goers on Thanksgiving; why not shoppers?
Still, I'd like to suggest that it might be sound for the soul of Americans if on one solemn day of the year we were denied the option of going to the temples of commercialism to acquire more material goods, and concentrated, instead, on giving thanks for what we already have.
I come from a generation that managed to deal with the reality of stores being closed on designated days. During my childhood only bars and restaurants remained open on Sundays. The shopkeepers and clerks had the day-long luxury of doing something other than being at the disposal of customers. Such a policy might suggest that there is life beyond Best Buy or Bed, Bath and Beyond.
A number of church leaders are incensed by the very idea of Black Thursday. But far be it from me to tell business people how to run their enterprises or customers how to spend their time or money. After all, nobody has to shop on Thanksgiving if they don't want to. Our democracy's competitive marketplace offers us an abundance of choices. There are many others who share our world but not our liberty and largess.
Nevertheless, the idea of Black Thursday is not without a twinge of conscience on the part of employers. Wal-Mart will be paying its staff holiday wages and serving them a Thanksgiving dinner. That's good. I hope it's worth it for all concerned. However, I won't be among them.
©2013 Doris O'Brien for SeniorWomen.com
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