Tag: holidays

This morning while getting ready for work, I was thinking about all the kerfluffle over stores being open on Thanksgiving. You know what? I have no problem with it. The stores being open are not the problem. They are the symptom.

First, let’s get the stores out of the way. Truthfully, most of us have no problem with businesses being open on Thanksgiving. We like to be able to go to the market if we forgot something. We like to be able to tank up our cars, or even order something in if we’re too tired to cook. Employees that have to work on Thanksgiving are typically well-paid (which is a bonus to them), and their employers often give them other perks to make up for their being away from their families.

Further, those who are so “offended” about stores being open on Thanksgiving are not doing it because Thanksgiving is a national holiday. They don’t demand that stores be closed on Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, or the 4th of July. Why Thanksgiving?

The answer is because this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, and everything to do with Christmas. Their issue is not with the stores being open; their issue is with the fact that if the stores are open they will go out and go shopping. It is that quest for the bargain. It is yet another example of America’s worshipping of symbols — and in this case, the symbol is not the Christmas tree, but the wrapped present.

Now, I’m no Christian. I haven’t studied the New Testament. I’m not intimately familiar with Jesus’ teachings. But I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t his followers to chasing the bargain, going out solely to give more and more of their money to businesses large and small. He would much rather see that money go and do good for those who cannot afford to do so. But, alas, doing good for the poor and needy doesn’t seem to be the “American Way”. Tom Lehrer said it best: “Angels we have heard on high / Tell us to go out and buy!”

So, when you see Christmas marketing creeping earlier and earlier, and merchants getting more and more aggressive, don’t blame the merchants. They are just trying to make a living in a tough economy. Blame the society that has turned the winter holidays — neither of which had anything to do with gift giving and shopping Shopping SHOPPING — into the major commerce point of the year. If you’re Christian, celebrate the birth of Christ by emulating what he taught. If you’re Jewish, celebrate Chanukkah and fight the urge to assimilate and be like the Greeks. But please, don’t celebrate the overindulgence culture so prevalent this time of year.

The stores may be open. That’s their choice, and we don’t need to blame them for it. They are gambling that people will shop. However, their being open doesn’t mean you have to shop. Actually, to be precise, it doesn’t mean you need to start shopping for Christmas. Shop for Thanksgiving, fine. Shop as you normally would, fine. But for material presents? Feh!

Maybe — just maybe — your money can be better spent this holiday season. Give to a charity. Give to a non-profit. Do good.

Oh, and have a happy Thanksgiving, and Chag Sameach! Chanukah starts tonight!

[A lunchtime musing…] As you know, we got to a lot of live theatre. For some of these shows, we bring along my mother-in-law. Last Saturday’s show was one such show. While eating dinner before the show, she shared with us a note that she received from the independent Senior Living facility she’s at. This note gave a variety of sandwich options — Roast Beef, Salami, and Tuna (IIRC) — and sides. My M-I-L said that these were box dinners for the residents staying in for Thanksgiving, as the dining staff was getting the night off to be with their families.

My first reaction was to be very thankful my M-I-L is joining us for Thanksgiving.

My second reaction — and my reason for writing this post — was how tacky this action by the facility was. I can understand wanting to let staff be with their families on the holiday. I can also understand the expectation that many residents will be with their families that day, and thus not utilizing the dining hall. But there are going to be a number of residents whose families are far away, or who do not have relatives that can host them, or who simply do not have relatives that care. For them, offering sandwiches is a slap in the face. At least the facility could have gone to Togos (there’s one in Granada Hills) and offered the #5 (Turkey and Cranberry) as a choice. But they could also have worked with a local restaurant to provide to-go turkey dinners to be delivered — Abes Deli, which is a block away, has a Roast Turkey dinner on the menu.

Why am I writing this? Primarily, to encourage people to think about the seniors near them that may be in such facilities. Check and make sure they are getting proper Thanksgiving dinners (if they want). Perhaps offer to invite such a senior to your dinner.

Thinking ahead: What are they going to do about Christmas — even more of a family holiday. For us, we’ve already invited my M-I-L to join us for our traditional celebration: a movie and Chinese food.

Yet again, while perusing Facebook, I’ve seen a photo of military equipment with a caption that says “This won’t feed hungry children”. I always get upset at these photos, but not for the reason you think. I get upset because these photos that government workers and government contractors do not exist. This is also an attitude I see from the folks who want to cut, cut, cut government thinking that only brings benefits to the world. Smaller government == good, right?

So, as today, is Thanksgiving, I’d like to say “Thank you” to the government worker, government contractor, and all the other people doing services on behalf of governments. Thank you to all the people who the rest of the country seems to think do not exist.

For every piece of military hardware out there, there are soldiers and support personnel keeping it operating. These folks earn paychecks of government dollars, and feed their hungry families, and purchase goods and services from the community. There are the contractors who design and build this equipment, who keep the facilities operating. These hard working folks all work for their government dollar, and contribute to their community.

For every government program, there are people who work and make that program work. The vast, vast, vast majority of these folks are hardworking and honest, doing what they do because they know it helps the country. They endure furloughs and uncertainty. In return, many have good middle class jobs. The pay may not be what it could be in industry, but they tend to be stable. These folks work in factories, in offices. They teach your children (teachers are government workers, folks), they provide public safety. They inspect your food. They make and maintain the systems behind the census bureau, the national weather service, the public health services.

All of these people deserve thanks.

During the election, there was lots of talk about cutting government. Whenever there are military actions, there is talk about cutting the war machine. Some cuts are good — they can streamline operations and make them more efficient. But do not forget: the more drastic cuts will put people out of work. Cutting government increases unemployment. The government and its network of supporting contractors is the largest employer in the nation. A 10% cut will put double-digit thousands of people on the unemployment line.  How would the news react if a private employer did that?

So let’s be thankful today for all the people who work for our country, be they in uniform or not, be they directly employed by the government or working for a government contractor. Let us vow, when we cut government, to keep them in mind. Let us cut intelligently — cutting inflated salaries and perks, making operations more efficient. If we must cut programs, lets figure out ways to redirect those workers into new programs that are better for society. Redirecting dollars into research can do wonders. Remember, DOD studies of survivability led to the creation of the Internet; funding theoretical physics gave us the World Wide Web, and early computer security networks gave us Perl.