(Our store is open on Thanksgiving, and I’m one of the unlucky few scheduled to work. This means I don’t get to go to the traditional feast. Nobody is happy, and the store is mostly dead. We have more or less the same exchange with the few customers who come in.)

Customer #1: “Dear, you shouldn’t be working on Thanksgiving! Do you get to see your family at all today?”

Me: “No, we close too late. But it’s not really that bad in the end.”

Customer #2: “That’s still awful. You girls should all be home eating and enjoying yourselves!”

Customer #1: “It’s shameful they make you come out and miss a holiday just for money and greed.”

Customer #2: “I know! Why in the world would anybody be open on Thanksgiving?”

(At this point I am bored, depressed, tired, as well as hungry.)

Me: “If people like you did not insist on shopping today, we wouldn’t be open. Everyone would be at home where they wish they were.”

(Surprisingly I was not fired, or even written up. The manager was just as annoyed at having to work as I was!)