I lament the loss of some gentle traditions in our culture.  Things like holding doors for people as they enter a building, family picnics, kids playing outside and getting exercise, and the belief that we're all in this together so we should treat each other as we would like to be treated.  (I'm exhausted by the prevalent "every man for himself" mentality these days.)

But perhaps the tradition I feel most sad about losing is the traditional Thanksgiving.  This was a day to stop, relax, and spend time with your family.  Shops were all closed and we were all forced to actually pause and reflect on our blessings.  Then we could all get up early the next morning and gorge ourselves on consumerism.

However, this has been lost as more and more businesses are opening on Thanksgiving day.  Our culture of greed and excess can’t even wait to start maxing out our credit cards until 6am the next morning.  Now we have to begin the process Thanksgiving afternoon.

I feel this is true loss of something important.  Corporate greed has become more powerful than respect for family. There is great value in stopping and spending time with your family.  And Thanksgiving has always been THE mac daddy of this.

The true loss here is that if a store is open on Thanksgiving, then many people are being forced to work and are not able to spend this time with their family.  This is the true loss.  If you’re so bored that you must shop, that’s your choice.  But businesses that require workers to work on Thanksgiving are forcing profits over family and gratitude.  This is just wrong, and all of these businesses should be CALLED OUT about this.

So I for one will NOT be shopping on Thanksgiving.  I will not give my dollar to a business that denies its workers even ONE day to spend with their families on an important holiday.  If the dollar has grown that important, then perhaps our society really is in a mess of trouble.