Not too long ago, Thanksgiving was for giving thanks, and the Friday after was for hitting the stores.
But now with the Great Recession leaving us in various states of either joblessness or desperation, the old rules are gone. Kmart, Sears, and other national retailers will be open on Turkey Day. That feast will just have to wait for thousands of shoppers and thousands of store employees who will be waiting on them -- people who are thankful to have a job in spite of their bitterness of pulling holiday duty.
Truth be told, a lot of workers have always had to rearrange feast day around their job life: police officers, firefighters, hospital workers, doctors, journalists, and yes, television news producers. Your humble servant has fond memories of Thanksgiving at Whataburger instead of with family.
In the matter of disposable income, however, we have choices. We also have time. Twenty-eight days sit between Thanksgiving and Christmas, more than enough available moments to buy and give and imbibe our consumer desires. You will miss a few doorbuster deals, but if you're spending time with the people you love breaking bread and remembering all GOD has done for you, it's worth it.
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