Thanksgiving is a holiday where there are no presents to buy and no one to impress. It’s a time to be present, and enjoy time with family, cooking to watching football, whatever it may be. It used to be a time of simplicity, sort of the calm before the Christmas storm. Did something change?

Schools, restaurants and businesses are usually only closed a few times a year– particularly federal holidays, or public holidays. In the U.S., these are some of the only times that those who work five or six days a week get a glimpse of vacation. Over time, Thanksgiving, however, has become an exception.

The third Wednesday of November is when the emails begin. “See our Black Friday deals!” or “Members get a head start!” There is no waiting in line or fighting your way through a crowd anymore. The typical online shopper doesn’t even have to wait until Cyber Monday anymore,
because it all begins on Wednesday evening.

Suddenly, email after email, or commercial after commercial, it’s the urge to shop for everyone on your list, put up the tree, decorate the house and then wrap everything just purchased in the matter of a few days.

The local Target is already a zoo during the holidays, usually. But on Black Friday, (or should it just be called Black Thursday?) it is a maze of shopping carts and their anxious drivers, looking for the best deal they can get.

Most Targets opened at 6 p.m. Thursday Nov. 22, to extend six hours of headless, discounted shopping, before opening back up at 6 a.m., Friday, Nov. 23.

Cyber Monday has become ‘Cyber Week’, with apps and websites featuring deals starting the Monday after Thanksgiving, for their customers who have already bought enough from the previous week of sales. It’s a booming time for business owners and consumers alike, just to enjoy the shopping traditions of the holiday season.

As for employees, it’s a different story. People fear being employed in retail jobs during the holidays enough already, but working on one of their only holidays is the cherry on top of an already annoying job.

Parents are missing out on being with their children, all so that the average shopper can consume their annual 40 percent off. People are rushing through dinners, or even worse, missing them, just to get to work before opening. And forget requesting that weekend off, because it is most likely not going to happen.

Keep in mind that these same stores who are forcing their employees to work a holiday are holding the same sales online, some even including free shipping. But, people still feel the need to go shopping on Thanksgiving day.

Becoming more and more of a consumer society, it is easy to get lost in the concept of having material things. Remember that the stores will be there tomorrow, the sales will always be online, but your family won’t be there forever.