Day 13 (November 24, 2016): Kindness That Keeps Us Where We Belong

Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I contemplated a concept that's never crossed my mind in the past . . . pre-Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving. I mean, who doesn't love a good deal? Besides, one could argue that strolling through Target might potentially serve as a form of post-gorging workout. 

As I said, I toyed with the notion. Then, I set it aside, along with my fantasies of any evening aerobics. Part of my decision was due to a factor I cannot deny--sheer laziness. Yet there was also a nobler reason for my choice to don my PJs and TV binge with my pre-teen daughter: I really can't abide the idea of Thanksgiving morphing into nothing more than Black Friday Come Early. This is one of the few days of the year where we allow our lives to be more about our families and friends than any of the distractions. That's sacrosanct, and, as such, shouldn't be tampered with.

Of course, it was easy enough to call a no-go on the shopping insanity from the comfort of my couch. But, as I indulged in a second slice of key-lime pie (yes, we needed a break from pumpkin in our house), I realized the same decision requires a bigger game-changing act of kindness from the store owners who opt to stay closed on Turkey Day. (See http://www.clark.com/stores-closed-open-thanksgiving for a list of retailers who shut their doors in honor of Thanksgiving.) On the one hand, the choice probably does cost them some sales. On the other, there's more to business--and life, for that matter--than layaway plans and the slam of cash registers. 

I tried to picture it--Thanksgiving away from my family. Sure, I could simply plan our festivities earlier, but it would be there . . . that nagging knowledge that I'd ultimately have to leave them and, instead of staring at cherubic faces besmirched with Cool Whip, I'd be forced to achieve eye contact with hoards of crazed shoppers. Truthfully, it's a scenario that sounds like the stuff of nightmares. 

Meanwhile, the alternative is a perfect case in point of kindness in action. The aforementioned manufacturers put their employees' happiness (and the happiness of their families) ahead of the almighty buck. Kudos to them for demonstrating what it means to be kind on a day when kindness should be the undeniably resounding theme. And, though I'm but one shopper, rest assured I'll be reviewing the names in the link above before I decide where to brave the insanity tomorrow.