<p>Black Friday. My credit card company called this morning. They suspected fraudulent charges on my card (and were right). My Visa card’s been cancelled and I won’t get a new one until tomorrow. Hooray! A perfect excuse to do NO SHOPPING TODAY!! 
:D</p>
<p>here’s the sort of shopper you don’t need to come across any day:</p>
<p>[Woman</a> pepper sprays other Black Friday shoppers - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/woman-pepper-sprays-other-black-friday-shoppers-110009506.html]Woman”>http://news.yahoo.com/woman-pepper-sprays-other-black-friday-shoppers-110009506.html)</p>
<p>Just dropped off the family at the mall (traffic wasn’t bad but there were zero parking spaces and people were parking at surrounding strip malls and walking over). I’m in the office for a few hours and will go over and pick them up for a trip to Home Depot (a lamp switch broke last night and I’m going to buy a floor lamp while we figure out how to fix the switch).</p>
<p>Meanwhile I have some work to do for an engineer in India.</p>
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<p>To me, this seems crazy, too. We have always tried to keep holidays low-key. I think the Quakers had it right - every day is a holy day, and to single out particular days as more holy than others is a bad idea.</p>
<p>ksm, (OP), you started this thread to say you didn’t want to work on Thanksgiving, and I can understand why. I agree with you: working on this holiday is anti-American of sorts, at least as far as the actual occasion is to celebrate our family and friends over a generous table of freshly harvested food. Others have pointed out that many people work throughout the year (police, doctors, etc). However, I’m home doing some online shopping, which doesn’t benefit you either.</p>
<p>Ok, I have done some shopping today: bought D’s Christmas airfare. Checked a bunch of online deals - there was nothing that made me itch to reach for the credit card. :)</p>
<p>Yesterday was the first holiday I’ve had off since going full-time last year. I worked Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. I had yesterday off and I’ll have Christmas off. But I’ll most likely work Christmas Eve, 12/26, New Year’s Eve and New Years Day. </p>
<p>Retail is not the only people working on these days. Although looking outside work now and when I was driving over, I see we’re one of few medical offices open today outside of hospitals…</p>
<p>I went to AAA today. No lines there! Kohls afternoon was a bit of a zoo, but I did find out they pay their CT folks time and a half so I felt less guilty about being there. People in line were so friendly and nice. I only had $12 worth of items…four very small things. The family in front of me let me go first…they had a couple of carts full. </p>
<p>I got the things I needed…and came home. I left my house after noon and was back by 2. NO malls.</p>
<p>My best deal today was two $0.99 poinsettias at Home Depot. Got them at 2pm from abandoned shopping cart. The greeters told me there were gone hours before. Found the cart sitting by the tables at the in-store Dunkin Donuts with no one around - I stood by it for 3-4 minutes and no one said anything. My kids think I’m crazy that I shopped out of someone else’s cart!</p>
<p>I was at Best Buy at 9:30 with my mom to buy her a new computer. The place was a zoo. We couldn’t get anyone to help us because they were all too busy ringing up customers, so my mom and I carried 3 different models up to the cash register and I asked the cashier to go over each model with me. My mom, being a typical Chinese, kept on telling me to get the cheapest one. At one point, I had to ask her if she was paying. We were out of there by 10.</p>
<p>After we got the computer home, I ended up spending most of the morning setting up the computer for her, and showing her how to use it. She was fascinated by FB. She now has an account and she wants to be friends with me. </p>
<p>We did go to a local mall in the afternoon, but didn’t really find any deals. D1 is with us now, we will go for more shopping tomorrow.</p>
<p>Lol, that’s cute @ your mom wanting to friend you. :)</p>
<p>Yes, I am wondering if I have any pictures holding a red cup.</p>
<p>My son is 20yo and works at a grocery store. He always checks holiday plans and then offers to work the holiday around those hours so others don’t have to. He’s not responsible for a meal or young children as some of his co-workers are. It’s worked out well and he is always accommodated when he does ask off on a holiday.</p>
<p>This year my 23yo niece’s retail store was opening at 12mid on Black Friday. As the manager she had to be in at 9pm to get ready. During Thanksgiving dinner she had to leave early to go nap as her shift was 9pm-7am. All so shoppers could come in at midnight. My heart broke for her. Yes, she chose retail, however there should still be reasonable limits.</p>
<p>I bought a couple of useful gifts online because they had deals…and free shipping
I can’t imagine fighting the crowds and scrambling to find a parking spot.
One of the reasons that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday is because it is supposed to be about spending time with family and NOT a holiday where gifts are part of it…now that is disappearing too …
There is not amount of $$ I could save that would cause me to take time away from my family on this day , or my sleep after eating such a heavenly meal…my head hit the pillow at 9:00 pm and I was out by 9:05 ( husband snapped a picture of me on his Iphone )</p>
<p>My husband will have his next day off on 12/25 as we also have a retail store. We have had to work most holidays throughout the year , with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas so believe me, I am more than pleased to avoid being in stores on these rare days</p>
<p>My husband has worked retail his whole working life and only gets Thanksgiving and Christmas day off. He has worked every other holiday that most people get off and enjoy. It’s not news - retail hours have always stunk and pay is usually lousy. </p>
<p>But throughout the years we have also used retail to our advantage. When the kids were babies and young, I was able to keep a pretty good paying job (working 20 hours per week). Those 20 hours were covered by my husband who was able to take two days off during the week and go in late a day or two. </p>
<p>I think it also been good for the marriage as well - 
Now he usually has one day off during the week and one on the weekend. So he gets a free day - usually golfing and I get my free weekend day. It’s perfect! LOL!</p>
<p>Co-worker reported that her 60 something year old mother has to move the Thanksgiving family dinner forward to 1pm so that the mom could clean up in time to go to work at 10pm for the midnight opening of Target…
The media is reporting today that Thanksgiving DAY opening were a huge success,…so no doubt next year they will open by 6pm??
So, the point of this thread is that rappant consumerism is definitely destroying the holiday. Everyone who is smuggly reporting their wonderful deals is completely missing my point. Cashiers cannot ask for and be granted time off to be with their families and people of all ages are being required to work the graveyard shifts for no extra pay. Wake up America!!!</p>
<p>Occupy Target!</p>
<p>ksm - I don’t think anyone is missing your point - it’s just that everyone doesn’t agree with it. And if the sale was a huge success and eventually stores will be open Thanksgiving day, the people working at these stores will have to make the decision to work at these stores or not.</p>
<p>According to an article in my local newspaper, Thanksgiving Day sales were a huge success in our area. I agree that the trend will move towards an earlier opening time.</p>
<p>I went shopping at 8:30 AM to get a price adjustment. I was able to get a parking space, and the crowds weren’t bad, but one of the door busters I was kinda, sorta, interested in, was sold out. They had opened at midnight. No way would I have gone at midnight to get it.</p>
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<p>Ebenezer Scrooges’ Management 101 Guide for Dummies</p>