When you think about it, Thanksgiving was, until recently, our only non-commercialized holiday. People have complained about the monetization of Christmas all my life. Halloween? Well, that was always the Devil's day. But Thanksgiving somehow remained semi-sacred -- a time for patriotism, family and calm reflection. Now we (and note that I say "we," not "they") are transforming Thanksgiving into the crassest day of the year.
I've heard from one Wal-Mart employee who tells me that she normally works a standard daytime shift beginning at 7 a.m. Her body clock is set for sleeping at night. Nevertheless, she will be forced to work "crowd control" beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday (the first day of "The Event") -- and the shift will last at least 13 hours.
That's simply unfair. And not a little dangerous, given some of the violent incidents that marked previous "Events."
This woman -- an eleven-year veteran of the company -- is now thinking of quitting. In fact, she has sent out resumes. So have a lot of the other Wal-Mart employees who have contacted me. Unfortunately, our economy has seen better days; even people with college degrees from good schools continue to send applications into Wal-Mart. Still, if all of the more intelligent and skilled workers transfer to other companies at the first opportunity, Wally World will increasingly be known as the place that hires only inarticulate dimwits who can't provide decent customer service.
The National Labor Relations Board will rule today on whether workers have the right to picket Wal-Mart stores on Thursday and Friday, after Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practices suit. From the Christian Science Monitor:
For instance, Daniel Hindman, who has worked at the Paramount, Calif., Wal-Mart since 2008, says he will walk out Friday with 100 of the store’s roughly 130 associates, accompanied by at least five of the store’s 20 or so managers."Made-for-TV events"...? How condescending. Every time Wal-Mart spokespeople address employee grievances, they always sound like some southern sheriff in 1961 bewailing the "outside agitators" who came to rile up black people.
“Wal-Mart may try to bring in other workers at the last minute,” says Mr. Hindman. But those people will not know the stock “or even how to ring up items at a cash register,” he says.
Janna Pea, a spokeswoman for one of the workers' groups, adds that she expects some 1,000 of the roughly 4,000 chain stores to be hit with walkouts Friday.
Wal-Mart dismisses such claims. There are only a “handful of associates, at a handful of stores scattered across the country that are participating in these ... made-for-TV events,” says spokesman Kory Lundberg in an e-mail.
A final note: A lot of people consider Target (based out of Minnesota) more "liberal-friendly" than Wal-mart (based in Arkansas). But Target's company color is red, while Wal-Mart's is blue. Is there any way we can get them to switch...?
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