davidkevin, posts by tag: holidays - LiveJournal — LiveJournal

09:37 am - As You Celebrate, Remember:

There has been a lot of hooraw and foofoorah about big box stores opening on today, Thanksgiving Day.

And rightly so -- I don't think it fair to the employees to be denied their holidays, either. If nobody was willing to shop on the holidays, the stores wouldn't be open, as they require a minimum amount of sales per hour to justify it. I know this because in the late '70s I worked at a Peaches Records, and we had to move $900 of product out the door every hour -- on nights when we weren't, the store closed early.

But as you celebrate your holiday, remember that other people, doing essential jobs, are working today: hospitality employees -- both hotel and restaurant -- firefighters and paramedics; bus drivers and transit conductors; ward resident and emergency physicians, nurses, hospital food service, laundry, sanitation, and miscellaneous support people (I was one and worked Christmas Day and Easter Sunday because I was needed), pharmacists (my late father opened his pharmacy a half-day every Sunday and holiday, so those who had gotten prescriptions the day before could get them filled); police officers (the good ones, we hope), electric power plant workers, water treatment workers, telephone support people for all kinds of industries, not just computers and consumer electronics, regular landline operators; pilots, flight attendants and counter people, air traffic controllers; radio and television station engineers; and oh, so many others, all so that we who are non-essential can enjoy our holiday.

So thank, too, the people you meet along your way who are at work -- hardly anyone ever does -- so you can celebrate at ease. They're doing it for you.

Current Mood: busy