Thankful...I'm Not Working on Thanksgiving

When I was working at the library, and good Christian stores like Walmart began to open on Thanksgiving Day, I recall standing there with my mouth open when a co-worker -- we had Friday off as well as Thanksgiving -- talked about going shopping on Thanksgiving Day.  And when I talked to her about how that meant other people couldn't spend Thanksgiving with their families, she replied that she just liked to go shopping.

In what can only be seen as the ultimate in irony, this year Walmart has taken up a collection among employees to help other Walmart employees who are unable to afford a Thanksgiving dinner.

I'll just bet that asking their employees to donate is Walmart execs' un-ironic solution to the growing criticism that Walmart expects the government to subsidize their low wages.

The other solution of course is making employees work on Thanksgiving Day.

This nonsense began a number of years ago with those openings in the wee hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving (no I won't call it Black Friday, although it is an apt name for all the wrong reasons).  No matter that people stood in line in the cold and dark for hours for a good deal on a TV; it was well worth it.  A carnival atmosphere.  And if a few people got stomped and had to be hospitalized, it was all in a good cause -- big savings.

But the real deal is that employees had to be available in those wee hours, cutting short a visit to family, or with family, on Thanksgiving, all so that those profit-craving corporations could cut into the profits of others that began Friday sales during business hours.

Who is surprised that the next infringement on those lowest paid of workers is on Thanksgiving Day itself?  Does it matter if the stores don't open till six p.m.?  For those of us that don't have to work on the holiday, can you imagine having that hanging over you throughout your family meal?  And forget about that after dinner nap, Walmart needs you.

Walmart may have been the first, but in true 21st century capitalist spirit, others have been quick to jump on the bandwagon.  And opening time is creeping upward, with Toys 'r' Us opening at 5 p.m.  And getting the Dirtbag of the Season Award is K-Mart, opening Thanksgiving morning and remaining open through Friday.

This may be the year for Thanksgiving Sales Creep by creepy corporations, but it is also the year of growing awareness of the crisis -- and shame -- of shoddy treatment of low-wage workers.  Corporations with continued high profits are counting on government dollars to subsidize their workers, with food stamps and Medicaid.  We pay with tax dollars, and also insurance premiums when the uninsured sick end up in emergency rooms.

But this is Thanksgiving.  What it costs us is not the point, although that will be what moves the debate.

What we need to remember this week is that there are workers who are paid so little they cannot afford Thanksgiving dinner.  And many of those are expected to work hours most of us are not:  nights, Sundays, holidays.  And that that holiday which has been held most sacred as a day for family to gather has been subverted to corporate profit.

We can say no.  We can boycott the Walmarts and K-Marts and give our business to those who respect their employees by giving a living wage with benefits and time off to spend with family -- or just napping on the sofa -- a day with no work.  Locate the stores which refuse to open on Thanksgiving Day, and be sure to give them your business during this holiday season, and let them know you are doing it.

And for goodness sake, if you run out of milk on Thanksgiving Day, drink your coffee black.