Thanksgiving plans and an Invitation

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

How does one who works in retail answer that?  Do they think they are going to get a crazy awesome story on how they go through Thanksgiving with a smile on their face and a thankfulness that they have the long weekend to stay at home and veg out, maybe do some Christmas shopping?

No.

My plans for Thanksgiving [as of right now] are to get up extra early to start prepping the bird for the oven.  Then I go through the day, glad to have the family and friends over, and I listen to everyone else make plans for shopping, hanging out, and sleeping in all weekend.  My plans are not nearly as exciting.  I will kick my family out of the house around 8-ish so that I can get to bed early, because my alarm is going to be going off very very early in the morning so I can get to work the next day by 5:30am. 

I work in retail.  While many families may go out and have their Christmas shopping bonanza, Christmas decoration hanging parties, and singing with canned laugher and happy Christmas Carols, I am at work, listening to the same 15 Christmas tunes our Musak will play over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.....

You forget about the workers in retail this time of year. You see us all as punk kids working their way through college without a vested interest in you.  You think we don't care.  You think we are there to abuse. 

"Do you know how long I stood outside?" or "Do you know how long I waited?"  you'll say.  In the back of my head I want to shake you and tell you that there is more to life than shopping on Christmas, and that you take yourself WAY too seriously.  But nontheless I won't.  I will smile, apologize for your wait, and give you my undivided attention.  I take it upon myself to make sure your family has a nice Christmas present, and I ask you a lot of questions to make sure that the product you pick out is going to make your little Johnny smile in delight and tell you that you are the best mother/father in the world.  I am going to take your snide remarks, your shit eating grins, and overall grumpiness, and let it roll off my back, because frowns don't sell people, I sell people.

We are a week from Thanksgiving here in America.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Oh and I am looking for a few good bloggers.  Because I am going to be pulling some crazy hours next week, I would like to have you guest post throughout the weekend.  Shoot me over an e-mail at throwing25s [at] gmail [dot] com.  There is no theme, but I would love to have you on.  Just let me know if you want to come on and blog.  I have 5 spots open starting on Black Friday to December 1st.