For years and years I use to work in retail, so I know firsthand all about Black Friday. The absolute biggest day or "Mother" of all retail consumerism that takes place directly after Thanksgiving, and in some cases only by a few hours after. As more and more stores are actually opening their doors to the public earlier and earlier, sometimes as early as 4am in some cases. All so customer can frantically bum rush the store and get their hands on one of maybe two Plasma TVs offered for a fraction of their normal price. Which if you ask me is just pure insanity! For Thanksgiving is one of the very few non commercial holidays the US celebrate or even has to begin with, and it really needs to stay that way! Forcing employees to cut their holiday celebrations with family short, just to go into work is totally unacceptable in my book. Just as it's unacceptable for some families to forgo Thanksgiving altogether just to wait in line all night for select Black Friday deals they might not even get in the first place because of limited quantities.
Because I live in LA and my family is from the Bay Area, I would fly just to spend Thanksgiving with the family. And because I worked in retail at the time I had to take the earliest flight back come Friday morning so I could finish an afternoon or evening shift, and that is not fair at all! All employees, no matter what position they hold within a company, deserve to be able to spend time with their respective families. They should not be forced to cut their Thanksgivings short just to return to start work, or better yet they should receive double time pay if they are made to come in before normal working hours. That way at least their sacrifice will not go unnoticed and they will be adequately compensated for their efforts. Also employees who are paid more will less likely be chosen to work such shifts, which is only fair. As people with seniority have already put in their time and should not be forced to have to work on such a day.
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