I actually hate midnight to 9am on Black Friday morning more than working on Thanksgiving, but both suck. The last few years there was a big increase in opening extremely early Black Friday morning and I was very outspoken about how horrible I think it is. I think it is dangerous for employees to work hours they typically don’t. I think it risks more car accidents, more illness, more family strife, and more unhappiness among employees. It is already an incredibly exhausting time of year. People who have never worked full time on their feet have no idea. Seriously, none! This includes retail, housekeeping, construction, some areas of nursing, and many more industries. Plus, the more employees are pushed to the brink the more we open ourselves to unions and government regulations. Working a vastly different shift than typically worked, a time of day someone usually is asleep for the better part of that shift is practically abusive.
If a store is a 24/7 then it doesn’t bother or surprise me they are open every day of the year. However, most people who go into retail were not expecting to work Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Easter or New Years. In the last 15 years New Years was taken away and stores have been open. The last 5 years some are open on Easter. Now, Thanksgiving is being taken away.
Many many people work on thanksgiving. Medical doctors, pilots, hotel, amusement parks, some restaurants, pharmacy, and on and on. That is part of those industries. Even then I think it is awful when someone works their sleep time shift.
Retail stores don’t need to be open on Thanksgiving or before 8:00 on Black Friday if the store normally opens at 10:. If the industry just decides not to do it as a whole then none of them lose anything. The playing field stays level.