# Are people assholes if they shop on Thanksgiving? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284 "2014-11-21T19:29:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/21 "2014-11-21T20:27:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not necessarily. Thanksgiving is often one of the few times that _extended_ families get together, which often involves out-of-town travel. But isn’t that just their choice? Could families who really wanted to see each other figure out some other time of year to get together? My extended family gathers for my Aunt’s birthday as she’s the matriarch. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/22 "2014-11-21T20:37:33Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > I really thought that the popularity of on-line shopping would’ve put a massive dent in Thanksgiving / Black Friday shopping, because I figured people would prefer the convenience of being able to avoid the crowds, waking up so early, etc. > > I later learned that, for some people, the Black Friday chaos is a family tradition. It takes all kinds, I guess… Online shopping has put a huge dent in brick-and-mortar sales, which is why they have to compete by being open holidays, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/23 "2014-11-21T20:48:55Z")
What? No. Are people assholes if they go out to eat on the weekends? What if they go to a bar after work? If you’re on the clock you must be okay with it, otherwise why are you at work? ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/24 "2014-11-21T20:56:08Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > So they live so far away this is your only chance to see them, but they will be in town for only the span of your work shift? I doubt many people fall into this category and are not allowed to trade shifts or anything. Most people, when relatives visit from far away, do actually prefer to see them more than a couple of hours a day. The relatives usually prefer that too. I don’t think I’d care to travel to see my relatives if I knew they would be working most of the time I’d be there. And do you really think there are people dying to trade shifts in order to work on Thanksgiving? My sister is a doctor, and she can tell you it’s horrible trying to find someone to trade shifts with you for a holiday. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/25 "2014-11-21T20:56:57Z")
I live in a different country to my family, but I am home for Christmas every year. I’m not American, but you can take the importance it has to me as equivalent. Yes, I could take a few days off and see my family at a different time. But the thought of being alone, after the hypothetical working day, at Christmas, without my family, our traditions, the atmosphere…let’s say I’d be thoroughly miserable. I think it’s sad that you cannot imagine that it would be a good idea to have one day without always having to think about money. The world won’t end if you can’t buy a pair of new pants or whatever Target sells for 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/26 "2014-11-21T21:01:07Z")
Did I miss it or are we still waiting for someone to explain why it’s Ok to go to the movies, but not shop on Thanksgiving? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/27 "2014-11-21T21:03:52Z")
Nope, we are still waiting. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/28 "2014-11-21T21:10:50Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > People wanting to spend a particular entire day seems childish to me. Enjoy your family every day. Unfortunately, I live 4 hours from my brother and his family. Five hours from my parents and grandparents. Six hours from my youngest aunt and her family. Seven from my uncle. Between the distance and the dissonant work schedules, enjoying each other every day isn’t a feasible option. We manage to gather everyone three times a year if we’re incredibly lucky. Thanksgiving has traditionally been a time when we could all get together without anyone having to use vacation time to come home. I didn’t so much mind cutting into that time when I worked at an emergency vet clinic, and I don’t mind the years we can’t make it home because **DoctorJ** is on call. The sick and injured need to be helped, regardless of the date on the calendar. But I would resent like hell having that time cut into so that someone can save $10 on a blender on Thursday instead of Friday–nobody’s gonna die, or be stranded, or have to sleep outside, or anything else unpleasant, from waiting an extra 12 hours to buy small appliances. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/29 "2014-11-21T21:11:43Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not necessarily. Thanksgiving is often one of the few times that _extended_ families get together, which often involves out-of-town travel. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > But isn’t that just their choice? Could families who really wanted to see each other figure out some other time of year to get together? My extended family gathers for my Aunt’s birthday as she’s the matriarch. Kids are off school on Thanksgiving. Getting together at other times would mean pulling kids out of school. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/30 "2014-11-21T21:12:29Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Did I miss it or are we still waiting for someone to explain why it’s Ok to go to the movies, but not shop on Thanksgiving? Anybody remember this thread?: [Going to the movies on Christmas or other big holidays makes you an asshole.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=402899) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/31 "2014-11-21T21:17:50Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Kids are off school on Thanksgiving. Getting together at other times would mean pulling kids out of school. Summer break, fall break, winter break, President’s day weekend, spring break. It’s not wrong to want to get together on Thanksgiving. I’m just saying there are lots of opportunities other than Thanksgiving break. If people truly want to see each other, they will arrange it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/32 "2014-11-21T21:19:20Z")
I’m not offended by anybody’s decision to shop or go to a movie on Thanksgiving, nor the next day, either. The situation has created an artificially busy and crowded shopping experience. That’s why I stay home, not because I’m worried about somebody thinking I’m an asshole. Throughout my working life, I occasionally had the opportunity to work a holiday, and I usually took it, for the overtime pay. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/33 "2014-11-21T21:20:11Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > How does it help the employee when you refuse to frequent the business they work for? If what they want is that the business close on this day, it obviously helps them not to shop there. The owner has less incentives to stay open. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/34 "2014-11-21T21:20:22Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Unfortunately, I live 4 hours from my brother and his family. Five hours from my parents and grandparents. Six hours from my youngest aunt and her family. Seven from my uncle. Between the distance and the dissonant work schedules, enjoying each other every day isn’t a feasible option. We manage to gather everyone three times a year if we’re incredibly lucky. Thanksgiving has traditionally been a time when we could all get together without anyone having to use vacation time to come home. I didn’t so much mind cutting into that time when I worked at an emergency vet clinic, and I don’t mind the years we can’t make it home because **DoctorJ** is on call. The sick and injured need to be helped, regardless of the date on the calendar. But I would resent like hell having that time cut into so that someone can save $10 on a blender on Thursday instead of Friday–nobody’s gonna die, or be stranded, or have to sleep outside, or anything else unpleasant, from waiting an extra 12 hours to buy small appliances. But it isn’t as if people are sitting innocently in their homes learning a chosen trade when troopers storm in and conscript them into jobs at Walmart or Target. They weigh the costs and benefits and decide to apply for the job or not. To pretend they have no choice and are the hapless victims of their meanie employers is to completely deny them any degree of autonomy at all. If you are resentful to be ringing up a blender instead of enjoying time with your family, then take the opportunity that has been shoved in your face and start making better choices so you can live a life you will like better. If your county jail had no guards and they forgot to lock the cells and the gates, most people would have the sense to leave, not stand around griping about the lumpy pillows and bad food. Last I checked, no big box store is keeping the workers on lockdown. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/35 "2014-11-21T21:22:21Z")
I do kinda wish I knew which places paid time and a half or double time on Thanksgiving. Even among grocery stores and such. I figure there are probably plenty of people that have no family feast, or who are readily able to shift their family feast and happy to do so if there is an incentive and that most employers would preferentially schedule those who volunteered. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/36 "2014-11-21T21:24:01Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > If what they want is that the business close on this day, it obviously helps them not to shop there. The owner has less incentives to stay open. So the boycott succeeds, the store fails, and the workers have no shitty jobs? While I agree this could likely be better for them in the long run, they could just refuse to work and get fired to get the same result. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/37 "2014-11-21T21:24:43Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > But isn’t that just their choice? Could families who really wanted to see each other figure out some other time of year to get together? Typically, families can gather only on major holidays because they are the only times when most are likely not to work. If it’s already a problem to organize a meeting on a major holiday, it’s easy to see how it would be even more difficult on some random day when the majority is likely to work. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/38 "2014-11-21T21:31:17Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > So the boycott succeeds, the store fails, and the workers have no shitty jobs? Yes, because obviously, if all people stopped shopping on Thanksgiving, stores would immediately fail. Besides, in cases of successful boycotts, stores change their policies when it begins to hurt the bottom line. They don’t just keep it until they go into bankrupcy. What’s exactly the point of keeping a policy that’s intended to make you money if it turns to, in fact, cost you money? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/39 "2014-11-21T21:32:15Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > So the boycott succeeds, the store fails, and the workers have no shitty jobs? Who said anything about making the store fail? The point is that if there’s no demand for stores TO BE OPEN SPECIFICALLY ON THANKSGIVING, then there’s less motivation for the stores TO BE OPEN SPECIFICALLY ON THANKSGIVING, and then maybe next year they won’t BE OPEN SPECIFICALLY ON THANKSGIVING, and the employees can enjoy having a holiday off. The other 364 days of the year are business as usual. If you’re going to argue about this, at least try to have the same argument everyone else is having. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284/40 "2014-11-21T21:38:18Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > If what they want is that the business close on this day, it obviously helps them not to shop there. The owner has less incentives to stay open. > [@AnaMen](#): > > So the boycott succeeds, the store fails, and the workers have no shitty jobs? Where are you getting that from? They want the business to be closed **on that day**. As some, indeed, are doing. [Costco, Publix Lead Charge As Stores Refuse To Open On Thanksgiving Day](http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/11/04/costco-publix-lead-charge-as-stores-refuse-to-open-on-thanksgiving-day/) [These Retailers Say No to Thanksgiving Madness](http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304281004579221971756165900) [Two Dozen Retailers Won’t Open on Thanksgiving–And They’re Shaming the Ones That Will](http://time.com/money/3556863/thanksgiving-hours-closed-black-thursday/) [Costco isn’t the only store closed on Thanksgiving day](http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/29/news/thanksgiving-black-friday-costco/) Etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-assholes-if-they-shop-on-thanksgiving/705284.md?page=3)