Thanksgiving has always been a time of eating and spending time together as a family. But for students who are working on the 26th,  they can expect to not be spending time with their loved ones.

Sarah Moe (’16), who, after working Thanksgiving last year gets this year off, said that, “There’s no stress. I don’t have to cut my Thanksgiving short to go to work.”

Many businesses today offer shopping deals on Black Friday, and those deals have now encroached on the holiday itself. As a result, these deals come with brutal hours of working to combat the demand.

“I’m happy about the time-and-a-half, but I would prefer to be with my family,” said Kenny Knutson (’17).

Many students who work in retail–such as at the Seattle Premium Outlets–are given shifts that force them to work through the night before Thanksgiving or the day of. Because of these shifts, a once family celebrated holiday has now become a game of waiting for people to get off of work.

“This year, we have to eat our Thanksgiving dinner at 12pm so I can still be apart of everything before I have to go to work,” said senior Savannah Miles, who works at Starbucks.

Stores such as Costco, PetCo, JoAnn Fabrics, and Cabelas are fighting this new trend and will stay closed on Thanksgiving. This gives thousands of workers the chance to spend quality time with their familys and loved ones like they deserve.

“This will be the first year that we won’t get to spend Thanksgiving with my family and I wish I could,” said Miles.