We're S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G. We're Shopping.

I took the weekend off from the blog; I hope you don't mind too much. More than that, I hope you're not too happy about it. 

The title of today's post is a song by The Pet Shop Boys. The title is my sister and me, in days past. If you've never heard it, you can listen to it here.

I was just reading an article about Black Friday shopping. The article talked about how many stores will be closed on Thanksgiving this year. So far, none of the big ones (Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Macy's, Target, Kohl's) have said anything either way.

To be honest, I don't really have an opinion about stores being open on Thanksgiving. I've run to the store on Thanksgiving, and I've stayed home. One year, I had to go to the store to buy a roasting pan for my turkey. I didn't realize that I didn't own one, and I was plenty thankful to find a store open on Thanksgiving!

Oh, I understand that Thanksgiving is a family holiday, but there are plenty of places open on Thanksgiving; plenty of people who have to work on Thanksgiving, and even Christmas.

Nurses

Doctors

Police officers

Firefighters

Corrections Officers

EMT's

Dispatchers

911 operators

Bus Drivers

Rail employees

Airline employees

Airport personnel

Hospital personnel

Movie theater employees

Gas station employees

Toll collectors

Truckers

Newspaper employees

Grocery store employees

Radio station employees

Television station employees

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it's not ranked in any way; it's mostly to illustrate my point. Nobody loses their mind because a hospital, an airport, a firehouse, or a prison is open on Thanksgiving. Mention that a store might be open and people freak out!

I know first-hand that retail employees work hard. I worked retail for a few years. We were crazy busy during the holidays. I've worked for a florist and a jewelry store. The jewelry store was insanely busy on Christmas Eve. The store was about 400 square feet, there were 6 employees working, customers were 6 deep at the counter, and some were waiting to get in the store. You would have a customer say something like, “I want earrings, no more than $300. Wrap them.” I'd never seen anything like it.

Last year I was chatting with a friend of mine about the Great Thanksgiving Shopping Debate. I was saying that I probably wouldn't shop on Thanksgiving. Not necessarily because of solidarity with retail workers; it's mostly that I'm busy cooking on Thanksgiving. My friend works in a non-essential profession (she's not a doctor, a police officer, etc), and she told me that she's had to work on Thanksgiving before. Her profession is one you would never think about anyone having to work on Thanksgiving. I had no idea she'd ever worked on Thanksgiving.

Every year, I watch the Black Friday ads, and it seems like every year, nothing I have in mind is on sale. Last year, I did the majority of my shopping online. I didn't feel as though I missed anything.

An outlet mall near me used to have something called “Midnight Madness” (they probably still do). They opened at midnight on Thanksgiving night. I went a couple of times; it was actually fun, but I think it had more to do with who I went with than the actual event. I'm not really looking for clothes this year, so I will probably skip that. The Kate Spade outlet had some amazing deals, but I try really hard not to buy things for myself. One year, there was a deal I couldn't pass up, and I let my husband wrap it for Christmas.

I haven't decided about going out on Black Friday this year, or even on Thanksgiving. I suppose it depends on whether there's anything to draw me out of the house, how much cooking I'll be doing, and what my body is saying.

Do you partake in the madness?