Thanksgiving an American Family Holiday- Missing what is Important

It is November again, my how time flies. I'm going to do some ranting in this blog, so beware.

I just got my work schedule and I am scheduled to work through Thanksgiving weekend. I did not volunteer to work. I'm upset that I don't get to spend at least Thanksgiving Day with my family. Why can't businesses close on a family holiday to let people be with the ones they love. Selling luxury items is not a necessity, but the company is only thinking about the bottom line and not the moral of their employees.

When I expressed my deep disappointment about having to work on Thanksgiving Day with my boss, he tried to tell the upside is getting overtime pay.

Well, family is more important than money. You can't ever get this time back.

He proceeded to tell me that I was not the only one who was upset about this and then he went on to tell me about his getting a three day weekend on Thanksgiving and how he is going to enjoy it. I truly am happy for him, but his timing in telling me this was inconsiderate and downright rude, especially since I had been tearful in expressing my own frustration and disappointment. It totally felt like he was putting salt in an open wound.

I'm really upset that I have to work, and people like me have to work, because the public can't take a day off from shopping and dealing with customer service issues for one day during a family holiday.

I want to thank the public and the companies (and I mean this sarcastically) for expecting us to to put aside our own families and not being able to be there for them because you feel the need to do your shopping on Thanksgiving Day for luxury items. Because of this, large companies like the one I work for does not want to miss out on the sales that this one day can generate.

You already have black Friday, now you have to include black Thanksgiving????? I'm also very upset at the companies that can't make a stand for their employees for this very important day in November, Thanksgiving Day. If you believe in family values, why take this time away? Why force mom's, dads, children and grandparents to have to work for fear of losing their jobs. This certainly doesn't boost moral.

Retail has a blackout period where their employees cannot even ask for time off from just before Thanksgiving until after the New Year. Every holiday during the year is like that as well. We cannot travel to be with our families, we are stuck working. Now not only has this whole block of time been taken from us, Thanksgiving Day has been stolen from us as well. We have to work on Thanksgiving Day, an Iconic American Family Holiday, because of the bottom line. When are the managers, company heads going to stand up for the employee and let them have this day back? This is a very sad world we live in.

For those people, who say, well you shouldn't work in that job, if you don't expect to work. I actually had a manager tell me, "This is what you signed up for when you got employed by the company, if family is more important to you, then maybe this is not a good fit for you." How cold and impersonal is that? Jobs are not easy to come by and like most people we have to pay our bills and we don't always have a choice in the jobs we have to take. Retailers are part of the problem of the breakdown of the family and family values, because of what they expect of their employees on important Family holidays. People need to celebrate time together on family holidays.

For those who say, "You can celebrate it before or after the holiday". Are you kidding me? The whole year leads up to this day as a family holiday. Why are we forced to have to celebrate, before or after the holiday??

Because of my work schedule, my whole family won't have a home cooked Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day, because they are elderly and disabled and can't cook without assistance. My work schedule doesn't only affect me, it affects my whole family on this special day.

This is the ripple effect of large companies decisions to stay open because of their bottom line. It's no wonder people become insensitive to what is important.

The attitudes of people need to change when it comes to what is important and what is expected. Everyone needs to respect the family and their time together, because that is where it all starts. You can't get back time lost. Why wait to realize this when it is too late, after your mom, or dad and grandparents have passed away. YOU CAN'T EVER GET THIS TIME BACK!!

If you can't look forward to family time during important holidays, what do you have?