Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sears will be open Thanksgiving Day

I was surprised to hear that Sears will be open Thanksgiving morning this year for the first time. I won't be shopping there that day since I'll be getting ready for the family to gather here at 1:00 pm. But I am thankful I live in a country where the owners of their businesses have the freedom to open their doors any day they desire to. Or close them. Or pay their employees for the holiday or not.

I tried to leave a comment on the site where I read the article but was unsuccessful. Every comment I read was down on Sears for daring to do it. "Is nothing sacred?" to "You can be sure the bigwigs will be enjoying their families while their employees are having to give up family time just to keep their jobs."

Being business owners ourselves, we are sensitive about incessant attacks on "The Man" which business in general has come to represent in the eyes of many of our citizens. Seems any business owner is fair game to be considered greedy because they may possibly earn more than they need to stay alive. The fact that their profits enable them to grow, invest, employ others, and so become the chief job creators in our economy, is overlooked or disdained.

Maybe Sears had a tough year in our recession economy. Maybe they need an edge to stay alive in 2011 to keep employing the many people they do employ right now. All I know is that continued attacks on our capitalistic economic system do not help us recover. Such thinking does encourage our slide into socialism, however.