[gacook]

I'm employed by the Federal government; I'll be working Friday. I'll also be working the Friday after Christmas. I actually like working these days because pretty much nobody else does, so I can get a lot done.

My wife's a manager of a retail store. They're opening at 6pm on Thanksgiving to "get a headstart" on Black Friday. My oldest stepson (Junior in high school) just got a part-time gig at Kmart, so he'll be working Thanksgiving night, too.

The plus side for my wife is she'll get some seriously fat bonuses in the next 3 months if her store beats last year's sales each month (this month, she's 22% over currently), so that offsets the aggravation of working the holiday. I asked if her employees are getting double time or time and a half for working the holiday...she looked at me like I was crazy.