{"id":266,"date":"2013-11-26T21:36:42","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T21:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mlecharbinger.wordpress.com\/?p=266"},"modified":"2013-11-26T21:36:42","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T21:36:42","slug":"the-holidays-a-time-for-longer-work-hours-by-alejandra-mendoza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mlecharbinger.org\/?p=266","title":{"rendered":"The Holidays: A Time for Longer Work Hours by Alejandra Mendoza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Source: Google Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Thanksgiving Day, many stores will open in anticipation of Black Friday. Consumers will line up around dinnertime; they will have chosen to be there. The employees won\u2019t.Last year, my mother, a saleswoman, worked on Black Friday, got home late, and woke up to return to work that Saturday. I didn\u2019t sit down to have dinner with her on Thanksgiving because she had to go to bed early to be prepared for the long sales day ahead of her.<\/p>\n

At least last year, I got to have lunch with her.<\/p>\n

This year, many stores \u2013 including CVS, Best Buy, Costco, JCPenney, Macy\u2019s, Staples and Wal-Mart \u2013 will open on Thanksgiving Day.<\/p>\n

My mom has to work from 7pm on Thanksgiving Night \u2013 to prepare for the store\u2019s opening at 8 \u2013 and get home sometime after 1 am to return to work at 8 am.<\/p>\n

Employees from big chain stores spent a holiday of being thankful hearing the cha-chink of cash registers, listening to customers screaming about blockbusters and sales and limited quantities. And for what? For sales that could have waited until Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Stores wouldn\u2019t open if they knew they weren\u2019t going to sell, but isn\u2019t the commercialization of a holiday that\u2019s supposed to be spent being thankful for what we have a bit ironic?<\/p>\n

I can understand Black Friday and I can understand wanting to buy great gifts and save money, but I can\u2019t begin to understand why materialistic things have such a profound effect on the choices we make when it comes to our families.<\/p>\n

My extended family does not go out on Thanksgiving Day \u2013 not even to CVS if we forgot to get milk for the apple pie. It\u2019s a rule, you make do with what you have and if you need anything, you wait until 5 am when stores open for Black Friday and wait out the ridiculous lines.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving is for family, and there\u2019s no other way I\u2019d want it to be.<\/p>\n

But this year, it will be different. This year, my mom won\u2019t eat the dinner but she will hear people complain all night long as they bargain prices.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, stores close early on Christmas Eve for last minute shoppers. Last year, Target was opened until 9 P.M, while Toys \u201cR\u201d Us, waiting for procrastinating parents, closed at 10 PM.<\/p>\n

It seems as if every year, major stores push closing times further back. This year, despite ever growing competition with online shopping, the only option if someone needs to buy a last-minute gift is to actually go out.<\/p>\n

What will happen to employees when stores decide that remaining open, on Christmas Day, is the best idea they can have?<\/p>\n

I can think of a few people who won\u2019t be happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thanksgiving Day, many stores will open in anticipation of Black Friday. Consumers will line up around dinnertime; they will have chosen to be there. The employees won\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[236,1437,1879,2376,4019],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-features","tag-alejandra-mendoza","tag-feature","tag-holidays","tag-longer-work-hours","tag-thanksgiving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t