Shrinking Thanksgiving

A little over five years ago I ranted about stores being open for thanksgiving.  Unfortunately since then things have only gotten worse.  Not only are stores like K-mart open today, but Black Friday, which has started earlier and earlier every year is now starting at midnight for most stores.  This means that the employees of these stores, instead of being able to enjoy a brief Thanksgiving diner with their family, now don't even get that.  Many employees have been complaining in order to work the midnight shift they must go to sleep around 2pm and completely miss out on Thanksgiving dinner.  With on-line shopping available 24/7 is it really necessary to have the stores open at midnight?  Are stores really going to make huge profits from those customers that are at the store at 1am to buy that one item on sale?  Are they really going to spend time in the store buying things that they could buy at a normal time for the same price?  It's time to let people enjoy a truly American holiday with their families and not force them to miss out just because they're not fortunate enough to have a job that allows them to sleep in.  If you must go shopping on Black Friday, do it from the comfort of your own home on-line and skip the stores.  If enough people avoid this ridiculousness maybe the stores will open later next year and let their staff enjoy the holiday the way it was meant to be enjoyed.