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| Photo credit: Flying Pig Party Productions on Flickr |
You see, as many of you are aware, tomorrow is a bit of a strange Thanksgiving, because not only does it blend with Chanukah, but many large retail stores have decided to extend Black Friday and start the sales on Thursday.
I’ve heard a lot of people calling for boycotts, and telling people not to go, and starting petitions against it, but that’s not what this post is about. Boycotts or petitions or not, the stores are still going to be open and employees are still going to be working on Thanksgiving.
Instead of focusing on the negative, however, I’d like to try to do something positive. There are going to be a lot of tired employees who are missing Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, so why not go out and make their day a little better?
If you plan to go out tomorrow or Friday for Black Friday sales, consider buying your cashier or another working employee a small gift. Maybe it’s a candy bar or a pack of gum, which may not sound like much, but as someone who has worked as a cashier during the holiday rush in the past, I can tell you little gestures go a long way.
Let’s take some time this holiday season to show hard-working employees that you’re grateful for their work and you understand that they’d rather be home with their families. Let’s show them the true meaning of being thankful and spread some holiday spirit.
Even if you don’t go, I encourage you to spread the word to others who might. I’m calling this Operation Thanks, and you can easily spread the word by reblogging this post on tumblr or sharing one of the tweets below with the #OpThanks hashtag. We can all do a little something to help make someone’s day better, and it starts with remembering to be thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving and Chanukah to all who are celebrating!
Twitter-sized bites:
Going out on Black Friday? Consider giving back to employees working long holiday hours with #OpThanks. (Click to tweet)
Shopping this Black Friday? Consider spreading some gratitude this Thanksgiving with #OpThanks. (Click to tweet)
I think that's a sweet idea!
ReplyDeleteBear in mind, though, many employees are not allowed to accept gratuities, so a gift card might get them in trouble. But a card or even gum or whatever might slip under the radar. Or a donation to the staff, made "officially" via management. We sometimes have things show up for us at the library that's "for everybody" via donation, and it's really awesome when it happens.
I hadn't thought about the gift card thing, but that's true. I figured candy or something should probably be ok—little things like what they sell by the registers. Donations for everyone also sounds great—it's wonderful when people stop to think about others. :)
ReplyDeleteNice idea, Ava!
ReplyDelete