I have been hearing and seeing a fair amount of buzz about stores opening on Thanksgiving Day this year. Some stores have done it for many years, and I'm sure folks have buzzed about it all along. I suppose it is the increase in larger retailers who are choosing to open on the Holiday that has so many folks feathers' ruffled over this. Initially, I planned to post a simple comment on my Facebook page, but then I had a Textual conversation about this with a friend and the topic took on a life of its own.
There are a couple of points that I want to throw out before I offer my opinion and view options:
1. I worked in a retail setting...clothing stores.....from the time I graduated college until my mid-twenties, so I do have a perspective from which to draw.
2. My wife worked in various types of retail for the majority of her "pre-Mom" career. (She and I have discussed this topic and share the same sentiments)
3. I currently work in a service profession where I meet all sorts of people, all the time, under varied conditions.
4. I am a person and I know that not everyone shares my perspective. In fact, no one shares my perspective because it was created out of my own experience from my own journey through this life up to this point in time. Isn't that so cool? A UNIQUE perspective!! (YOU have one too!)
I find it completely fascinating that we humans can find something to complain about in nearly every situation that arises. we want a job. we get a job. we find things wrong with the job. we complain about the job. we no longer have a job. we complain that we don't have a job. we want convenience. we want economic growth. we want power. we want money. we want joy. we get what we want and then we find a reason why it's not good enough or why we aren't good enough for IT! (the "we" here is a gross generalization as are the examples....merely for effect.)
Now, retailers are offering an opportunity to kick start the Holiday shopping, to boost sales, to boost economic progress and what do we do? WE COMPLAIN! We complain for the poor worker who has to leave their family/friends/home to go to a god-forsaken store with irate customers and angry people who are just going to be obnoxious and mean - "spit in your face because you don't have the sale I want" kind of mean. Because that's just how the "shoppers" are, don't you know? (If you are a "Shopper", please don't take offense.....you'll get yours, don't worry.) The poor store associates, as they drag heavy boxes around the store, frantically restocking the shelves in the hope of avoiding some other irate statement from an "S", just have to suck it up and get yelled at ALL day by these "Shoppers", all the while wishing they were home snuggled on the couch and dozing from the overload of tryptophan and 'taters. (or Tofurkey, depending on your persuasion) And if YOU have ever worked in retail, you KNOW that this is exactly how it is! Everywhere.
Or not.
Then, there are the irate "Associates". They are all just bitter because the have to be at work, so they don't give a rat's patootie about the Shopper's needs. Every SHOPPER knows this, right? Those miserable store Associates, always with their backs to you, blocking the aisle with their big carts of stuff, trying to get it back on the shelves so that it can be grabbed off again! Why can't they get the price tags and labels right? I mean, it isn't rocket science, is it? UGH! What an AWFUL situation we put ourselves in....as Shoppers, as Associates....(and, by the way, you are either ONE or the other....you might even be BOTH!)
If you have read my posts before, you know that there is always a twist (or moral) to my stories. This one is no different. Where do you think this one is going? (If you have an idea, please contact me ASAP, because I'm not too sure right now.) KIDDING! Seriously. (I just love contrast. It's the spice of life, ya know!)
I mentioned something in the first paragraph that is the crux of this "moral"....."choosing"......The retailers are CHOOSING to open, and some folks are CHOOSING to be upset by this. Some even choose to believe that the poor store associates have no choice in whether or not they go to work, and some Associates choose to believe this too.
The thing is, we ALL have choices! We wake up each day with a clean slate of choices, and those choices begin WITHIN! (for instance, at this moment, one of the KitKats is CHOOSING to have a foot stomping temper tantrum because her sister CHOSE to exercise her right to self choice and didn't enter the room at the exact time of Kit's request. Choices.) We CHOOSE our attitude. We Choose our responses. We Choose whether to REACT or RESPOND to a situation. The thing is, sometimes we get so lost in our own minds that we forget that we have the ability to CREATE a conscious choice!
How do our choices relate to Holiday hours of retailers?
We can choose to shop or not shop. We can choose to go to work or not go to work. We can choose to be kind and come from a Heart-Centered space of Love in ALL of our interactions, or we can choose fear and resentment as our guide. We can Choose an attitude of Gratitude - for the freedom to shop, the ability to drive to the store, the means to purchase, the opportunity to work, to earn money, to interact with interesting people, the opportunity to brighten some one's day with a smile and gesture of kindness! Remember, what we put out, we get back. Even when things happen outside of our control or conscious choice, we STILL have the choice to decide how we will respond; Love or Fear - anger/resentment/etc.
I admit, when I worked in retail, I didn't fully understand this concept, and I am still practicing embodying my own choices today. More often than not, though, (then and now) I find that a conscious choice to come from a space of Love leads to very quick shifts of situations that may have begun on the downside.
So, if you are "that Shopper" or "that Associate", consider exploring the space of Heart-centered Love interactions as you brave the mayhem of the retail circuit. You have a choice. You also have a responsibility to yourself to honor the choice that you make. Do what FEELS best to you and know that a choice is never wrong...just opportunities to grow and learn for next time.
Sending warm wishes for a Blessed ThanksGiving and CONTINUING ThanksLIVING to ALL!!!
