Christmas seems to be spilling into our lives earlier and earlier each year.

It is now common place to see Christmas decorations before Halloween. The only thing that held the advertisements off this year was the contentious election. Once we elected a president all bets were off.

Now I hear that some stores will be opening ON Thanksgiving Night. My first reaction is disgust followed closely by outrage. Stores shouldn’t be ALLOWED to do that!

“Time and a half baby!”

The argument is made that some people are thrilled for the holiday pay.  I’m not sure I buy that most WANT to be working. Even if they don’t have family, the holiday season is crazy enough for retail people with out working Thanksgiving night. Retail stores starting planning for December displays and sales back in July. People work on Thanksgiving Night because they don’t have a choice.  They need the job.  If they refuse to work, they’ll lose their job, or they will be penalized in some way. What about management level employees? They don’t get overtime pay.

A theme on one side of the election this year was reducing government intervention in business management. To an extent, I favor this, but I can’t say I trust business operators to run in a safe, respectful manor. Profits ALWAYS come first.

Hmmm, let me think about this for a second. It’s like one of those crazy high school math problems.

• Profits come first.
• Businesses make money when I spend money buying the goods and services they offer.
• What if I didn’t shop on Thanksgiving night? Then my money does not support a business who’s practices I disagree with. If enough people disagree, and don’t shop on Thanksgiving Night, then the stores won’t make money. In fact, the stores will lose money on salaries and utilities.

By staying home on Thanksgiving Night, and Black Friday, I might miss a few bargins, but I’ll gain a whole lot of peace of mind. I can’t control what other people do, but I know I’ll choose peace of mind over another gadget any day of the week.

Happy Thanksgiving.

P.S. Interesting piece on the economics of Black Friday. Hat tip Allison Worthington for the link.