Uncelebrating the 4th

I read a number of blogs and this morning one blogger asked what people's plans were for the 4th of July.  I commented with the same comment I post every time a blogger asks this question on a holiday.  My response?  Working.  I'm in retail.  Years ago that meant having most holidays off, not any more.  American Capitalism has changed the way retail looks at holidays.  They are now a time to run SALES, the reasoning being that every American wants to run out and buy a new refrigerator on the 4th of July.  Wait, no, that's not true.  Being open on a holiday does not send a store's receipts through the roof.  On the contrary, while there may be shoppers during the morning hours tomorrow, they will begin to thin out as the afternoon approaches.  Unless your appliance breaks, you're probably not going to in the market to purchase one.  In fact, the customers you tend to see, at least in this area of the country, are foreigners who aren't used to celebrating Independence Day.

I have to admit that I always wonder about those who do venture in on a holiday.  Is this what they do for entertainment?  For fun?  Even if I didn't have plans, I can honestly admit I would never set foot in a Home Improvement Store on a holiday.  There are still better things to do.  I can think of a number of ways in which I can waste time and not one of them involves walking the aisles, pushing a shopping cart, and looking at drill bits and saws.  Unless you have a thing for fittings there is absolutely nothing of interest in our plumbing aisle.  And those fancy out door cushions for your patio furniture?  Surprise, the sale price isn't going to disappear over night.  I can't even begin to imagine what kind of boring life someone might have in shopping on a holiday is a highlight.  If you're bored and that's the best thing you can think of doing, you're not very creative.

This is where I'd like to be.  Of course I know this has to be either New Years or Bastille Day since France doesn't celebrate our Independence Day.  But then being in Paris is fun anytime.  Still, I know that tomorrow morning someone, will wake up with an urge to go out and buy a drill.  Am I the only one who thinks that shopping turns a holiday into an uncelebration?  And, if that's what you do to celebrate, maybe you should re-evaluate your priorities in life because there are so many other times when you can go shopping.  Don't make me work because you have nothing better to do.