Friday, November 27, 2015

THE 2015 HOLIDAY SEASON

The following is an editorial.

Dear Free Choice E-zine Readers:

I gave serious thought to posting this last night, but didn't want to interrupt the festive time I was having with family and friends during Thanksgiving.

There is a seriously growing trend in this world. Perhaps it's more noticeable here in America than other countries, but it makes me wonder about the future of humanity.

For better or worse though, I am not talking about the increasing violence of terrorism, but those who would senselessly murder innocent victims just to express some political or religious belief do need to be stopped before they can harm anyone else.

Instead, I would like to discuss the ever increasing retail industry.

It used to be that the only people who ever worked over the Thanksgiving holiday were within either law enforcement, emergency services (fire fighters and hospitals), or the military, helping to keep the country and its citizens safe.

Now, whether you're an employee stuck working or a

potential customer who has been lured by the promise of possible savings; many families cannot spend the Thanksgiving holiday together the way they used to, because a lot of stores are now opening as early as 6 pm Thanksgiving night to begin Black Friday sales promotions and start the Christmas retail season, provided they even bothered to close Wednesday night.

This year, some retail businesses went out of their way to advertise that they would be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day, so their employees could be with their families, and those companies I personally applaud.

Yet, please do not misunderstand my opinion, for I am not anti-business per se. But once upon a time many companies did care about their employees and customers just as much, if not more, than their bottom line. Nowadays, it has gotten to the point where some corporate entities are considered "people", with an ever growing influence upon lawmakers at all levels of government.

THAT IS NOT RIGHT!

I hope I'm not the proverbial lone voice in the wilderness that no one will heed.

Granted, I am just one man expressing an honest opinion within a public forum.

And yet, if there are enough people in the world who happen to feel the same way I do, then perhaps someday we can go back to the more traditional Thanksgiving Day celebration of gathering with family and friends without having to worry about planning the event around everyone's work schedules and whether or not we'll be late and unable to obtain some arbitrary "bargain".

Sincerely,
Lee Houston, Junior
Editor-In-Chief: The Free Choice E-zine
November 27, 2015

The above was an editorial.

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