Lately I have read a lot of banter regarding the  boycotting of businesses that have chosen to be open on Thanksgiving. I think it is important to point out that there are three reasons to be thankful for businesses that have chosen to be open during the holidays.

First, not everyone has family, enjoys family or is able to spend the holidays with family. In fact, the holidays actually bring sadness for some who do not have the ability to experience tradition in the way you do. Working that day might be a blessing.

Second, everyone’s holiday traditions are not the same. In fact, some people share more family time by going out to eat and leaving the prep and mess behind. I remember one year our family was split in different states and we were very thankful to be able to create a new tradition by going to a restaurant to eat.

Some families eat early and watch football the rest of the day. Having shopping outlets open provides the non-football fans something to do besides words with friends. In fact, many of my holiday traditions involve shopping and connecting with family we don’t get to see every day.

Third, these businesses provide an income to employees. Believe it or not, some people love the idea of working on a holiday to give them the opportunity to earn double and triple the income. My dad has worked in the airline industry for three decades and spend over 90% of his holidays working. It was a blessing to our family. It’s possible it’s a blessing to others as well.

There are plenty of businesses that stay open on holidays; hospitals, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, airports, airlines, train stations and let us not forget that soliders do not get the day off. Has anyone ever decided to boycot the travel industry for being open and operating on a holiday?

Not to mention that our culture is a melting pot of people with varying backgrounds. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving. As well, some businesses like to take the opportunity to maximize profits to stay open and regain footing in the retail world during this time of year in order to stay open and continue to provide employees with job opportunities.

So, when you are thinking that a business is cold hearted for making people work on a holiday that you would not want to work on, just keep in mind, it could be a blessing to them and to others.

Happy Thanksgiving.