eg8r
11-22-2011, 11:00 AM
I saw an interesting article (http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/opinion/ancel-thanksgiving-shop/index.html?hpt=hp_t3) on CNN and wondered what you guys think. Please keep this away from politics.
Here is how I see it...Black Friday is a great day for families and individuals to get good deals before Christmas. Considering these hard economic times what could be better than a good deal on something you wanted to buy but could not afford it at regular price? OK, having said that, the other benefit of Black Friday was increased hours for those employees due to stores opening earlier than normal. For the past decade or so, 5-6 AM was the standard. Most of them employees I talked to over the years appreciated the extra hours on their paycheck but did not like getting up so early.
This year will be the biggest year for companies to open at Midnight. This on average, has the store open 8 hours longer than normal working hours so there are even more hours to work BUT it also means not getting any sleep after a big Thanksgiving meal. It seems to be a catch 22 because the extra hours on the paycheck are nullified by having to work on a holiday (even though most people are done celebrating by that time).
I personally prefer the stores to open early on Friday morning and preserve tradition (even if it is only really a decade or so old). When I was salary, I worked as much time as I possibly could so I would have been jumping for the chance to work these hours, but then again, it would absolutely SUCK to work on Thanksgiving (some of these people have to be in an hour or so before the doors open at midnight).
In the article one employee is quoted as saying, <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation -- all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!" </div></div>I tend to agree with him to a point. I mean seriously, what do the stores benefit by opening earlier than 6 AM?
Anyone out there stand in lines for the deals? I have been doing it for at least the last 10 years but haven't been in line for myself for at least the last 7 years. I have family members who see stuff in the ads and like the prices but just are not able to stand in the line for them so I fill in on their behalf. We have a goup of people that do it every year so it is now kind of a game. We sit around and play games, hang out, people bring up food, we watch movies, etc. While I like the idea of being done with my shopping by 12:03 AM I still don't see the point in opening that early when most of the employees would prefer a few more hours of sleep. I am there on my own free will (and really so are the employees) but the employees do it for the paycheck and if there is no benefit for the early opening then why do it?
eg8r
Here is how I see it...Black Friday is a great day for families and individuals to get good deals before Christmas. Considering these hard economic times what could be better than a good deal on something you wanted to buy but could not afford it at regular price? OK, having said that, the other benefit of Black Friday was increased hours for those employees due to stores opening earlier than normal. For the past decade or so, 5-6 AM was the standard. Most of them employees I talked to over the years appreciated the extra hours on their paycheck but did not like getting up so early.
This year will be the biggest year for companies to open at Midnight. This on average, has the store open 8 hours longer than normal working hours so there are even more hours to work BUT it also means not getting any sleep after a big Thanksgiving meal. It seems to be a catch 22 because the extra hours on the paycheck are nullified by having to work on a holiday (even though most people are done celebrating by that time).
I personally prefer the stores to open early on Friday morning and preserve tradition (even if it is only really a decade or so old). When I was salary, I worked as much time as I possibly could so I would have been jumping for the chance to work these hours, but then again, it would absolutely SUCK to work on Thanksgiving (some of these people have to be in an hour or so before the doors open at midnight).
In the article one employee is quoted as saying, <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation -- all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!" </div></div>I tend to agree with him to a point. I mean seriously, what do the stores benefit by opening earlier than 6 AM?
Anyone out there stand in lines for the deals? I have been doing it for at least the last 10 years but haven't been in line for myself for at least the last 7 years. I have family members who see stuff in the ads and like the prices but just are not able to stand in the line for them so I fill in on their behalf. We have a goup of people that do it every year so it is now kind of a game. We sit around and play games, hang out, people bring up food, we watch movies, etc. While I like the idea of being done with my shopping by 12:03 AM I still don't see the point in opening that early when most of the employees would prefer a few more hours of sleep. I am there on my own free will (and really so are the employees) but the employees do it for the paycheck and if there is no benefit for the early opening then why do it?
eg8r