DEAR EDITOR:
As a husband of a wife and mother whose job is a retail associate, I must ask, "What happened to the joy of the holidays?" Must people have the precious things they want for Christmas on a holiday? They can't wait until the normalcy of the 9 a.m. shopping day?
I speak for all these families who want to stay home and have their precious family time with their loved ones. Holidays are meant to be spent this way. Nowadays, both the husband and wife have to work, and the holidays are the only time that they get to spend together. As a retail associate they understand they at least get Thanksgiving and Christmas off to spend with their families, but now it looks like it is just Christmas. Is Christmas going to be next?
You see it all the time on the news how on Black Friday people have been injured or in fights on the rush to be the first ones through the doors. These stores only receive a few of the items on the special Black Friday sales. So I must ask, "Is it really worth someone's life or injury to save a few dollars?"
What happened to society? Remember when the stores were closed on Sundays and people attended church? There was no Black Friday and you shopped 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. Twelve hours isn't enough for people to get what they need? Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful my wife has a job, but what has happened to ''family values?''
Ray Callihan
Niles