Tuesday, November 13, 2012
This Fight Needs To Be Fought NOW
This is the year when it happens, one way or another.
More and more retail stores have announced plans to open on Thanksgiving instead of waiting for the Friday after. And those states that don't allow opening on Thanksgiving are being pressured to rescind the laws already in place forbidding taking holidays away from the workers.
Massachusetts Retailers Say "Blue Laws" Are Outdated
There are a lot of things wrong with Massachusetts, but on this they've had it right for years. Thanksgiving has been completely off-limits for store openings. Now, because of supposed fears that shoppers might go across borders to buy stuff on Thanksgiving night, many of them are calling for change to the laws.
This is the end product (and I mean that in the worst way imaginable) when Christmas and other holidays are pushed forward. The first time a Christmas carol was played over a store loudspeaker in October, this became the inevitable consequence. When otherwise good people stood by and did not complain, it was only a matter of time.
This year, we decide if greed wins or loses. There will be no second chance.
If some stores that never opened on Thanksgiving in the past are opening this year, depriving their employees of the holiday, then more stores will open next year. Legislatures will be pressured to change laws in those states that don't allow such openings. Finally, the entire landscape of the holiday will change. It will, in fact, no longer be a true holiday. Thanksgiving will become just another day to shop instead of a relaxing day to be with family and friends.
I don't know what more I can say. I've pretty much covered it all in this space, at one time or another, over the past seven years. If I missed anything, it was no doubt supplied by the other fine bloggers who have joined the fight. If it hasn't hit home in a way that makes you want to fight, I don't know what will. Make no mistake - if you don't fight it this year, you won't have a hope in hell next year. This fight needs to be fought NOW.
Sign the petition. If you have a stamp, write to some CEO and express your opinion. Or, if you don't have a stamp, e-mail a few of them. Ask your friends and family to do the same. Or do nothing and see Thanksgiving become just another day for shopping.
Soon, with more better stuff. Or never. Your choice.
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19 comments:
done done and done
Done....amen
Hugs
SueAnn
Did this through my other email address, and i hope it works.
Gee, remember when nothing (except for the church) was open on Sunday and if you wanted to shop on the weekend it had to be on Saturday morning?
What I can't believe is that people actually shop on that day.
It just seems so weird to force a holiday down people's throats when the meaning of the holiday has to do with a birth, not the amount of presents to give.
I already did this today. I also put a comment on Facebook about it. Thanks for the post!
There are SOME Blue Laws I'm against... like me bein' unable to buy beer on Sunday unless I drive 25+ miles out and back to Cannon Airplane Patch. We... the voters... FORCED the city gub'mint to rescind a ban on serving drinks with food on Sundays through a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot a year ago... but the bars and package stores remain shuttered on Sundays. But we do thank The Deity At Hand for small favors, and all.
Sorry to hijack your thread... I DID sign the petition.
I know I won't shop on Thanksgiving day. I have a niece who traditionally gets up at five am the day after Thanksgiving to shop for store buster items (I get a $1 pair of socks from her every year) and I intend to ask her if she's going shopping on Thanksgiving day this year.
I also remember when nothing was open on Thanksgiving and rightly so..sigh
I'll sign and share the petition. I hear from so many who agree, but alas, sit back and let it happen.
Buck - No problem.
I'm all in favor of blue laws being put to a vote. As a matter of fact, I'd love to see Thanksgiving law in this state put to a vote and confirmed for eternity. What scares me is when corporations do the I'll-wash-your-back-if-you-wash-mine with legislators in order to abolish anything they find troublesome.
If we want to really look at blue laws closely they're really based on religious views
Doesn't that make them unconstitutional?
I remember when stores were only open one night a week, otherwise it was 10-6
How did we ever manage then?
Oh, that's right, only one adult in each family had a job
Jim, I think Pandora's box is open and we're F_____d (pardon my language)
IT - Most every law on the books prior to (let's say 1970, for convenience sake) can be traced to some sort of religious teaching. If that's all it takes to void a law, then we can all start murdering folks any day now.
Yeah, I know.
Petition signed. I think I'm about ready for a rant. May not be under the Thanksgiving comes first label but will be related. I'm kind of fuming at this whole thing right now.
Ok. I hate giving out my information, but this is just too too MUCH!
I agree with you, it's ridiculous how we forget about Thanksgiving.
I'm sorry.
But I did sign the petition.
And gave away all my info in the process. *smile*
Post up.
Whoa. Are you actually advocating that we lobby the state to force stores to stay closed on Thanksgiving (or any other day)? Even if they want to pay to open? Even if they make it worth their employees' while? Even if some employees themselves would love to work on Thursday, under the circumstances, especially at an increased wage?
Like, for example, in our family, because my bro and sis-in-law are working in an ambulance and hospital, respectively, on Thursday—Are you going to try to outlaw their act of good deeds, too?—we're all celebrating Thanksgiving together on Friday. That's our choice. And if I chose to work on Thursday along with them, because people want to shop on that day, that's my choice, too. Maybe not as good a deed as working in an ambulance or a hospital, but enabling commerce does count as a good deed.
Private contracts are sometimes complex, and everyone has their own interests. Part of living in a free country is that we can live and let live, and let free actors make the best decisions that they can, as long as they don't force anyone else to bend to their will— especially not for self-righteous reasons.
A bit incensed,
-TimK
Tim - You're right. In my angry rush to have something positive happen, I called for folks to start using government force. I was wrong to do so, and I will remove that particular call to action.
However, insofar as the current "blue laws" are concerned, I'm happy as a clam if they remain. That may not be a very libertarian stance to take, but it's how I feel. To say otherwise would be dishonest of me. So, while I'll not ask folks to rail for new government intervention in our lives, I am quite happy to see the status quo on this continued. Your mileage varies, and mine probably should. But it doesn't.
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