This was a better country when single moms, teen agers, or 75 year old greeters weren't forced to choose between keeping their jobs and spending time with family. It's a free country, but most of us aren't exactly persons of independent means and if we're working at Wal-Mart it isn't because we turned down a lucrative job with Microsoft..
Y'all are fine to argue the Ebeneezer Scrooge originally got it right (hey why not start the after Christmas sale on Christmas!) and people should have no restraint in behaving how it best serves their bottom line.
I lament this serious encroachment on the holiday. Maybe it won't be long until we're selling insurance, fixing cars and going to school that day too. No doubt the incremental increase in GDP will warm your hearts.
But it is a free country and if KMart, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target are free to behave like a corporate jerks, I remain free to complain and not shop with 'em.