How To Celebrate Thanksgiving Essay

Thanksgiving is a holiday that is celebrated on the fourth Thursday during the month of November in the United States. Thanksgiving honors a legal holiday for people to be thankful for what they have, such as family and friends. Thanksgiving is meant to be spent with your family and not out shopping trying to find deals on items. In fact, in the article “Two Dozen Retailers Won’t Open on Thanksgiving-And They’re Shaming the Ones That Will,” it states, “Read between the lines and you’ll see that any retailer forcing employees to work on Thanksgiving must be an ‘unfriendly’ company.” Thanksgiving is about giving...not taking. Big name stores such as Walmart, Macy’s, and Target are staying open on Thanksgiving to make some extra money. Thanksgiving

should be about spending time with family, not about making a profit to getting a deal on something. Many holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and President's Day have become very commercialized to the point where people are forgetting the true meaning of the holiday. Nevertheless, in the article “Early Holiday Sales Put Profit Ahead of Consumer, Employee Well-Being” it proclaims, “Earlier shopping also affects consumers and their families. People are being asked to choose between spending time with family now and getting good deals on gifts they will give their families next month.” Thanksgiving described in six words would be family, national holiday, and day off.

This holiday is a time for family and that includes store employees also being with their family as well. To be honest, shoppers really don’t need to start the shopping madness until Friday. Shoppers should think of all the employees who want to spend time with their families on Thanksgiving. Furthermore, in the article “Two Dozen Retailers Won’t Open on Thanksgiving-And They’re Shaming the Ones That Will,” it declares, “Likewise, Menards took out a full-page newspaper ad last year explaining that it was remaining close on Thanksgiving because the day ‘should be celebrated with all those we hold dear,’ while a recent Costco statement described its reasons for not opening on Thanksgiving: Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Nothing more complicated than that.” It is understandable that their is last minute goods, however employees should not be working. Thanksgiving is a time when families get together and spend time with each other and not restocking shelves or giving employees money at the cash register. With this in mind, numerous people should say “no thank you” to stores being open on Thanksgiving, it takes away from the true meaning

of the holiday. It is completely unfair to ask people to work on Thanksgiving, even though it is said that workers get paid more, they are still missing out on being with their families for the holiday.