Be Present (#NHBPM Day 22)

 Today we are supposed to Be Present.  I am supposed to write about something peaceful with imagery.  Well, if you know me, you know that I am not a very peaceful with imagery kinda person.  I don't really think of unicorns and rainbows.  Okay, maybe I can conjure up a beach in Kauai with palm trees blowing in the breeze but that is the best I can do. 

Instead I want to talk about a real problem.  Big box stores opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day.  I don't know about you but I am annoyed that these big box stores are opening earlier and earlier each year.  Pretty soon Black Friday will start on Wednesday!  Not only do the commercials annoy me (although that lady on the Target commercial does crack me up), it annoys me that the stores have to keep "one upping" each other.  Target is opening at midnight so then Walmart is going to open at 10 pm and at some Best Buy locations they are playing a movie for waiting customers at 8 pm. 

Walmart circular ad

The most important thing that the big box store executives don't seem to consider is that real people have to work in those stores.  Those executives are warm and cozy sitting by the fire with their families watching football and eating turkey while the real minimum wage people have to show up to work one hour before the store opens up.  Which means they have to leave their homes sometimes one hour before that. So to get to work at Walmart at 10 pm, they have to leave their homes around 8 pm.  We all know that mass transit doesn't run on a regular schedule on holidays so the trip will be horrendous!  Not to mention that 2/3 of workers at places like Walmart and Target are women.  Most of these women traditionally have cooked all day to put a Thanksgiving feast on the table for their families.  Sometime during the day, they need to take a nap so they can stay up all night working! 

Well, I think it is time this craziness stops!  Do we all need a cheap Cuisinart so bad that we can't wait until 8 am on Friday?  Can't the latest video game still be 1/2 price at 9 am on Friday?  Can't the American worker spend Thanksgiving Day with family?  Many of these families work multiple jobs and don't spend much time with extended family.  Many times holidays are the only time spent time together with family. 

There are petitions going around on Facebook and other places to stop this insanity and let the American worker at Big Box stores spend Thanksgiving with family.  I mean, after all, isn't that what Thanksgiving has become all about?  Not about getting the best deal on a Xbox 360 4GB console with Kinect.  What do you think?  Family or Best Deals?  (Remember you can't take it with you.)

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J