Most Won't Be Shopping Today/Tomorrow

Let me preface my remarks by saying I have worked on many holidays. That's because most of my working life was spent in various aspects of law enforcement, and some of those jobs (like when I was a corrections officer in a juvenile institution, or a patrol officer at a university) simply require that someone must be on duty 24/7. I knew that when I took those jobs, and never resented working the holiday. In fact, I volunteered to work some so others could be off.

But that's not the same as making a minimum wage worker work on a holiday when it is not needed -- when it is only to pad the bank account of some rich owner (who is off on that holiday). While necessity can make some work on a holiday, greed should never do that (especially on a family-oriented holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas).

That's why I will not be doing any shopping on Thanksgiving Day. I do not want to be the reason why some low-wage worker had to give up being with his family on this holiday -- and I hope you will not be shopping today either. It's not that hard to make sure you have everything you need in the days leading up to the holiday -- even if you have to make more than one trip to get things you forgot (as it seems I have to do every year).

And it looks like most Americans agree with me. The charts below are from a recent YouGov Poll (done on November 19th and 20th of 1,000 nationwide adults, with a margin of error of 4.6 points). Note that 74% (three out of every four Americans) think stores should be closed on Thanksgiving day -- while only 13% think they should be open (and another 13% don't know what to think). And to their credit, about 80% (four out of every five Americans) say they will not be doing any shopping on the holiday.

As for Black Friday, about 63% of Americans say they will not be doing any shopping on that day either. I am among that 63%. I don't see anything wrong with shopping on Black Friday, but I am not about to fight the crowds just to save a few dollars. It just violates my idea of both fun and common sense. I am oddly reassured by the fact that a significant majority of my fellow citizens agree.