Commentary
Among things worth protesting, a chance to earn extra money for the holidays doesn't count
by Jessica EnglishJessica English is a single mother, college student and a source in MPR's Public Insight Network.
When I'm not doing all my other jobs, you might find me cleaning up a spill in aisle three. I work as a stock girl in groceries at Target. My team is the Sharks, and even though I've been in retail for over a decade, I wear my red and khaki smartly, with a little pride.
My favorite parts of the job are: Finding a Code Yellow (missing) child and returning him to his parents; getting to ask interesting questions storewide over the walkie-talkie, like "Team, can I get an aisle location for a tiny ball ... that you hold in your hand ... you know, to squeeze ... for exercise?" (A team member responds, "You mean a hand therapy ball?" By then, both I and the guest I'm helping are laughing too hard for me to reply); and getting holiday pay.
Others might disagree with me on my list of perks, but no one would argue about holiday pay. Yes, I have to miss out on a few hours of stuffing myself or watching fireworks on a blanket with my family, but who cares when time-and-a-half is up for grabs? Holidays are expensive, even with a discount. I need the money.
About two weeks ago, our department manager came around and asked us about our availability for Black Friday (our store is closed on Thanksgiving Day). He said the store would be opening up at midnight this year. My friend Anne and I were hoping to get the midnight shift, and said as much. Why would anyone want to miss history in the making, for time-and-a-half?
Black Friday will be busy. Great guest service is a real-life high-stakes trivia game. Once, a guest who spoke little English kept asking me for what I swore was an "animal," but then, as I listened intently just one more time, the light bulb went on and I realized he was saying "enema." "Yes," I said, "I do know where those are located. Follow me."
Limited quantities and super price cuts can bring out a little bit of animal in us all. I think each one of us secretly wants to prove that we have what it takes to make it through Black Friday. So imagine my surprise when the radio said that a fellow Target employee is actually petitioning against the store's decision to open at midnight.
I was shocked! There are a lot of things worth protesting right now, but five extra hours of holiday pay is not one of them. And tens of thousands of people had signed it?
Why not be there to witness the reactions of people having to go through a little self-induced exercise in scarcity? I'm in. Why not get a little holiday bonus to boot? I'm in!
Except that the schedule came out, and apparently I'm not in. I don't start until 7:30 a.m. Bummer. Anyone want to trade shifts with me?
Comments (12)
While Thanksgiving would be a chance for Jessica to work holiday hours, some people would rather spend time with their families. Especially for those who only get to see certain relatives on Turkey Day. Unless retail changed from 8 years ago, Black Friday when I worked in it.
Those who want the hours, trade with people who would rather be home, with their kids, with their parents, with their relatives!
It's true that "super price cuts can bring out a little bit of the animal in us all," but we're human beings. I'll be using this bell-weather:
Would I be willing to go into work, rather than go to my aunt's house to be with my family for Thanksgiving?
I wouldn't, so I won't expect retailers to. I can always gift hunt on Saturday. or Sunday, or any of the other days, during normal business hours.
Those who truly feel like Thanksgiving is a time for family, I urge you to stay home, or go to places with normal holiday hours. Vote with your wallet!
Unfortunately, so many retailers do not offer time and a half, even for Black Friday--and they don't offer extra hours, either. Their schedules are designed to force employees to work as much as possible (and during the most unappealing hours of the day) while preventing them from qualifying for overtime.
I remember when I had to get up at 3:00 to be at work by 4 on Black Friday. That was bad enough. It does not need to be said that opening at midnight or earlier is simply a disgrace.
Not only will I (and my family) refrain from spending one cent on Black Friday, I have also chosen to boycott Target for the rest of the year. Shame on you, retailers.
Black Friday is enough of an abomination of the holiday spirit. I will happily avoid the crowds and the soul-crushing depression of commercialism in favor of spending time with my loved ones. What money I might have saved on things I don't even want I will gladly spend on special, meaningful gifts for those closest to me. And that is the most power commercialism will have over me this Christmas.
So this is how bad we've let things become? Our workers are so poor that they argue their employers should be thanked for the chance to earn a few additional dollars in return for giving up one of only two holidays that remain a time for everyone to enjoy their families. Next will we be seeing a commentary from Cratchit arguing that December 25th is just an excuse to pick Scrooge's pocket?
To whom it may concern
Having been in retail for a number of years I don't see the reason for having to be open at 12:00. Even if it does mean some extra money at the Christmas time. I think the family time that can be spent with is far more important than the little bit of extra money you might get. People in retail don't get to enjoy the Holidays because it starts way to early. That by the time that Christmas get here you don't get to enjoy it because you are so dead tired all you want to do is sleep. To this day I don't really enjoy Christmas because of the past in retail. Holiday's are suppose to be with family not working. If you have to go to work at midnight or before so that you can be ready to open at midnight and work to 6:00 or 7:oo am in the morning you would have to go to sleep in the afternoon. So if your family is hours away this isn't going to allow you to spend quality time with family. I believe that some of the big box retailers have gotten to money hungry and don't really care if employee's have time to spend with families at the Holiday's because even if you want to get paid for the Thankgiving day you have to work that next day and the day before. Again if you have to travel a distance this is almost empossible. Maybe its about time that someone stood up to the big box and say enough is enough. The consumers need to also protest this by not shopping at these big boxes. We need to get back to putting our families first and not the greed of money.
Why even take Christmas off? Why not make even more money for the next holiday season? Or maybe just have holidays every ten years? It seems silly to think that way, and so does working on a holiday to make other holidays more financialy successful.
Just heard this story on the air - jaw on the floor. you know what's awesome? family. you know what isn't awesome? hyper-consumerism. tangling the ideas of extra pay/down economy with family is backwards.
what is worth protesting? a cause one believes in .. like the people of Occupy Wall Street, The Arab Spring, LGBT rights and on and on. what is different about the target petition? nothing.
you wanna work at midnight on thanksgiving - go for it - but do not poop on those who don't. find someone who wants to change shifts.
that's love, that's family, that's what we all are :)
thanks for the article.
If I work on the weekends, does that make me a money grubbing mother, who doesn't put her family first? Evenings and weekends are the name of the game in retail - primo family time or not. The weekend shoppers decide to stay home with their families, is the Saturday that I'm out of a job, and the month I don't make rent. Making rent is pretty great for my kids!
With this piece, I hoped to share how earning a higher wage for a shift is truly a needed boost for some of us. I also wanted to give people a glimpse at how some of us choose to psyche ourselves up for it. Please consider that holiday pay can translate into gas money to drive to Grandma's. And sometimes what a child really wants for Christmas (music lesson) doesn't get donated to the local Toys for Tots campaign.
The store is not open on Thursday, and that means lost shifts. Some of us cannot afford childcare during Christmas break, and that means more lost work. I'm not alone. A lot of us need/want the hours. I felt that it was worth sharing that perspective. After working with a lot of people who are hoping for shifts, I honestly was shocked by the petition.
Yes, this is what it has become, and unlike some of you, my only choice is to look my reality in the face and be thankful for every hour of work I can get.
Best Regards,
Jessica
So, when you child (I see you are a single-parent) asks you years from now why he/she had to spend holidays alone, your answer will be "Yes, I have to miss out on a few hours of stuffing myself or watching fireworks on a blanket with my family, but who cares when time-and-a-half is up for grabs? Holidays are expensive, even with a discount. I need the money." That's pretty sad.
While I still support the right of people to protest these hours, I am truly astounded by the hubris of many people who commented on this article.
Perhaps many of you could casually turn down time and a half (pointing out that many retailers don't pay it ignores the fact that this boycott is of Target and Jessica works at Target, which is apparently paying time and a half).
Good for you. You're lucky to be so comfortable. But to call a single mom who wants to work the overnight shift so she can afford Christmas grasping or greedy or to call her a bad mom is really beyond the pale, folks.
Why not focus the blame on where it belongs: Target. Not the single mom who works there, needs some extra money, and is trying to put the brightest face on things.
I understand your opposition to the protest, Jessica. I think the protest is misguided, but I also think your commentary, in conjunction with your commentary of a couple of weeks ago, provide more evidence the despicable inequities of compensation in this country. The fact that working in a Target store (and so many other jobs) does not provide you with enough compensation to make ends meet is the real tragedy. It's ridiculous for Target to be open in the middle of a night on a holiday, but it's also ridiculous to spend so much effort protesting it. The effort should be put into calling attention to the underlying problems of hyper-consumerism and wages that leave employees in poverty.
Thanks again for your commentary and for starting an interesting discussion.
It's incredible how judgmental these responses are!
Jessica- I applaud you for looking at your finances realistically and doing all that you can to make your children happy. I bet your children will remember how hard their mother worked so they could enjoy those coveted music lessons. Even as a child, I understood my parents' sacrifices to give me every possible opportunity and loved them even more because of it. I wish you and your children all the best.
@Linda Chisholm: Your comments came across as a bit passive aggressive and misguided given that it seemed Jessica was willing to work extra hard for her kids. You and others who are apparently quite aggrieved by the mere notion of someone working during the holidays to provide for their family, should ask themselves this: Who, besides the elves, bakers, cupids, and roman candle stick makers would provide the toys, turkeys, valentines and fireworks during the holidays if not for those willing to work somewhat inconvenient hours?
Furthermore, I'm quite certain that if younger children had the capacity to understand that sacrificing 6-8 hours of conventional family holiday time 3-4 days/year would lead to more comfortable financial stability for 360+ days/year, they'd be alright with it.
Lastly, those who feel the urge to judge others choices/traditions based on their own circumstantial reality- should first ask themselves if their commentary bears stronger resemblance to a form of egocentric projection rather than the benevolent intentions, (I believe) we all attempt to strive for, in threads and discussions such as this one.
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