We all work in retail and we all knew that working on Black Friday was mandatory.
I really don't know of any household/family/anything that has their dinner at 9pm on Thanksgiving, so it's not as if this is cutting it short. Sure, it's interrupting time I could be spending with my family but we work in retail and that is curse of working in retail.
I'm just glad I open and get that extra three hours of shift differential and time and a half and work for a 8 hour shift and can sleep peacefully in the arms of my fiancee when he gets home from his unfortunate shift at a retail store.
How is it not cutting it short?
Let's say you are a sales floor TM that has to be at work at 9PM. You are not a flow TM, so you never really work past 11PM at the latest.
Now, because you have to be at work at 9PM, your hours are completely screwed. You are used to being in bed by 12AM.... not working the sales floor from 9PM to 5AM.
The only way to suddenly work a shift like that means going to bed at around 2PM or 3PM thanksgiving day. That means, while your family is actually *having* thanksgiving at some point after 2PM (who has thanksgiving that early?) you are in bed sleeping so you can work your 9PM to 5AM shift.
It completely ruins thanksgiving.
It used to be we would open at 6AM or 5AM.... That way you could do thanksgiving, be in bed by 10PM, and still work your shift without blowing the whole holiday. Anyone who has to come in at 9PM is basically screwed.
Also - not all TMs are young. For a young person to do something crazy, like go in with 2 hours sleep, they can pull it off. For older TMs who are 40+ years old? They would pass out on the drive to the store. They will have no choice but to go to bed at 2 or 3PM.