Ever been disheartened by the scores of cars you see in mall parking lots while driving home from Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s? The recent push to expand Black Friday onto the Thanksgiving holiday itself seems to signal that the days of rest, quietness, and family time are over.

But after a few years of this hype, some stores have had enough. The New York Times reports,

“As big-box retailers prepare for their ‘doorbuster’ sales and ever earlier opening hours, some small businesses are making a point of going to the other extreme. They are shunning discounts and avoiding extended hours, especially those that cut into the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Some store owners are even doing so at the risk of fines from their mall landlords, many of whom insist that tenant stores be open in accordance with mall hours.

Why the pushback? As one small business owner put it:

“‘It seems like it’s been getting more overblown in America, and more out of hand,’ she said of the annual post-Thanksgiving sales rush. ‘We don’t want to participate.’”

While it’s great to be hard-working, ambitious, and enterprising, have we as a nation forgotten the value of stepping away from the regular routine? Do we – like the increasing number of small business owners mentioned above – need to lead the way in purposely setting aside time to recharge ourselves and renew relationships with family and friends?

“Rest and be thankful!” – William Wordsworth

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