The fresh and buttery smell of baked turkey, the sweet taste of cranberry and pumpkin pie, and the picture of happy family faces, is what best describes the American tradition of Thanksgiving. 

Why is this custom so popular in the United States? What is the origin of this unique tradition? Going back in the past and searching for the roots explains how it came into existence. The celebration dates back to the autumn harvest feast of the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians, and President Lincoln announced it during the Civil War a national holiday. 

Thanksgiving is about thanking God for being lucky with what you have in life. The shameful controversy which criticizes this unique American holiday is that the celebration is considered a fest of the genocide of Native Americans by European settlers. Robert Jensen, a professor of the University of Texas at Austin, would replace Thanksgiving with a “National Day of Atonement accompanied with by a self-reflective collective fasting.”  

Nevertheless, the tradition is stronger than the controversy. Gratitude for what you have – gratitude for your family, and especially to your parents who raised you with love and gratitude for having a job and security. 

However, this statement might have two sides, such as the traditional and the controversial Thanksgiving interpretation has. Having a job at a discount store does not necessarily result in happiness. Businessweek lists workers’ reasons, including low wages, spiking health care premiums, and labor disputes. Many workers want to be heard. They want a change of their working conditions. They do not want to depend on government food stamps or state health insurance. 

Why do some of the biggest American companies, which are also represented globally, dare to disrespect the natural human desire by its workers to have fair working conditions? Is it really necessary to put business, and profit-greed, in front of labor rights? Low paying, discount store employees do not want to accept anymore that some of the richest companies in the world give only credit to the upper management level, but do not consider the livelihood needs of an ordinary middle-class family. Employee strikes around the country support this idea. Does this mean that our Black Friday will not fall through? How would it impact us, and our way of thinking, if it did? 

It is definitely comprehensible that discount store workers cannot be as thankful as expected on Thanksgiving Day.