posted on November 25, 2014 by Jaycie Cash

Should Thanksgiving be Open or Closed?

By Jaycie Cash

closed signDo you vote for being open or are you pro closed?

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season. For many it’s a time for cherishing tradition, family, favorite dishes, football and . . . during the last few years, shopping.

Every year it seems a larger number of stores choose to open on Thanksgiving Day in the hope of luring shoppers looking for some money-saving deals through their doors. I find that policy depressing.

When I was a kid, this was such a special time. We’d put out turkey and pilgrim decorations right after Halloween and work as a family unit to prepare annual specialties for the big feast day.

My mom was known for making a cranberry salad that we’d spend days putting together. Since we ate with a large group we’d have to fix a lot of salad, so on the Monday evening before Thanksgiving we’d sort through around four bags of fresh cranberries, carefully throwing out those that looked old or spoiled and breaking off and discarding stems.

Once we had only the best cranberries selected and rinsed we’d hand grind them in an early form of food processor (no, I didn’t live in the 1800s, I promise) and cover the now ground berries with several cups of sugar before popping them in the fridge. We’d add more sugar and stir every day leading up to Thanksgiving.

Tuesday evening we’d crack the pecans from the tree we had in our yard and chop them into pieces. Wednesday evening we’d slice up red seedless grapes. Then on Thursday morning, while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, we’d fold the cranberries, pecans and grapes all together with freshly made whipped cream.

Everyone raved about how delicious it was but I think it tasted best to my mother, brother and me because we’d worked together to create it and had been anticipating since Monday evening how wonderful the finished salad would taste.

come in we are openI continue that tradition today, with a few changes. There’s no pecan tree in my current yard, so I now buy pecans shelled and already in pieces. Also, I use an actual food processor and don’t have to hand crank anything.

When I was growing up no one put up their Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving, so we had the chance to actually savor and enjoy each holiday in its own right.

This year some local stores put Christmas decorations up before Halloween. And I haven’t seen any Thanksgiving decorations anywhere.

It feels like we’re all being pushed through Fall so we can officially start the time for “buying” as soon as possible. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas as much as the next person and I’m certainly an unabashed capitalist.

But I’m also sad that so many young people today are growing up without the chance to enjoy family traditions of their own or to fully experience a delightful holiday that excludes no individual or group due to spiritual beliefs or a lack thereof.

Instead, many of their parents must rush off to work or are out cruising stores and looking for bargains.

HOW ABOUT YOU, WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE THANKSGIVING MEMORIES? DO YOU ENJOY SHOPPING FOR BARGAINS THANKSGIVING DAY OR DO YOU SPEND THE TIME  TRADITIONALLY WITH FAMILY? WHEN IT COMES TO STORES CONDUCTING BUSINESS ON THANKSGIVING, DO YOU VOTE FOR OPEN OR CLOSED? A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

           

10 thoughts on “Should Thanksgiving be Open or Closed?”

  1. Sandyg265 says:

    I think stores should be closed on Thanksgiving so families can be together.

  2. Kris Ten-Eyck says:

    I think stores should be closed. Let the retail people have time with their families before the craziness of the holiday retail period happens. This chase for the almighty $ by the big corporations is getting on my nerves. Christmas decorations out before Halloween hits? Opening on Thanksgiving Day? I mean, REALLY?

  3. Tiffiny Martinez says:

    I was actually born on Thanksgiving so my favorite memory is how every year as we are sitting down to dinner, my mom tells the story of her water breaking just as she was going to bite into her turkey leg (the first time she had one since they rotated in big family) and having to rush to hospital and find out later one of her brothers ate it instead of bringing her a plate. She accuses one of them each year but she doesn’t know it was actually my grandma who ate it.

    I think that stores opening on Thanksgiving should ask for workers to volunteer instead of making it mandatory. The focus should be on family not dollar signs. My husband works retail and only gets Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day off but this year they are required to be open from 8am-midnight and as the only salaried employee not eligible for overtime pay, he has to work the entire day. Not only will we miss out on family time and my birthday breakfast, he won’t even be appropriately compensated and will still have to be back to work Friday at 430 for Black Friday.

  4. Sarah says:

    I don’t see why stores can’t be open with reduced hours. I’m sure there are a lot of last minute shoppers or someone who forgot an ingredient or something.

  5. Jayme M says:

    I believe stores should stay closed.
    I remember traveling to my grandmothers house on Thanksgiving day, you didn’t see many gas stations open, and there was definitely not any stores open.
    We are now over commercialized and under family orienented. The Holidays are about your family, spending time together. I will not be shopping on Thursday. I’m sorry to those that are being forced to work or losing their jobs.

  6. Sarah Hollifield says:

    Although my family isn’t always together because of work ( we are a family of nurses, funeral directors) I don’t begrudge other families getting to eat together. So I think the stores should be closed. People seem to forget that public servants are rarely off for holidays

  7. Stores ought to be closed for the entire day as Black Friday comes early. Let families, new and old, have this time together to make new memories, retell memories of years past, start a family tradition or something. Retailers will not die if 1 day is not in their vocabulary!

  8. Narda Seaberry says:

    I think stores should be closed Thanksgiving, it is really the only true family holiday of the year. I also remember when the day after Thanksgiving was the start of Christmas season and decorations weren’t put up until after Thanksgiving. I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving, I even feel bad if I have to stop and pick up something from a grocery store.

    1. I believe Thanksgiving and the day after should be Holidays spent with the family.

  9. Suzanne Carver says:

    My fondest memories are of everyone being together. The house was full of family, that came stayed, people laughed and shared their lives. And we were sad to see them leave. None of this exists today. Today we share a meal.
    I also think stores should be closed on the holidays and Sunday work should only be volunteer.

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