Letters

Featured Letter: Do our families not matter?

To the editor:

Thanksgiving is a day for family and friends to gather to enjoy one another’s company and give thanks. This year, I’m deeply sadden and slightly outraged that large retail companies have chosen to open Thanksgiving Day, some as early as 6 a.m. 

I know that not everyone celebrates, or that even certain professions can’t possibly take the day off (i.e., nurses, doctors, firefighters, etc.). However, who really needs to purchase a handbag or shoes or material goods when there are 365 days in a year? (If you were to remove Christmas and Thanksgiving, you’d have 363 days to shop.) To me it truly shows the American greed that is so disgusting in our culture.

It hits a personal note since I’ve been in the retail field for the majority of my working life and it seems that job perks are constantly being taken away. My fellow retail co-workers and I work hard year-round putting in extra hours, going in early, staying late to make shopping an enjoyable experience; I’ve even had co-workers that work so hard that they refuse to take a day off even when they should be home sick in bed. In the past, Thanksgiving and Christmas were the two guaranteed days off that retail employees got to enjoy. Aside from  the ridiculousness of major retail companies opening on Thanksgiving this year; the people who had this grand idea of opening on Thanksgiving are actually off for the holiday: corporate employees.

I give major kudos to the companies that have chosen to stay closed on Thanksgiving and even have vowed to not open as early on Black Friday, allowing families with retail employees to be with their loved ones.

Unfortunately, as of now I am not one of those lucky employee’s who will be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner, unless I decide to quit my job.

Kimberly Walters, Riverhead