Opinion: Thank a Macy's Employee This Black Friday

If you're hitting the malls on Black Friday (even at the ghastly stroke of Midnight), and you're going to shop at a Macy's in the Northeast, please be kind to their employees.

Many Macy's employees sacrificed their Thanksgivings and volunteered that time to entertain you. Almost all the people you saw on Thanksgiving Day, wearing costumes and walking alongside floats during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, are Macy's store employees.

My wife was one of them. This was her fifth straight year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and her eighth one overall. Today, she was up at 3 a.m. to get ready to catch a chartered bus to Manhattan, and came home at about 3 p.m. She just went to sleep, so she can serve customers in the Trumbull, CT store at 4 a.m.

Macy's employees came from as far as Bangor, ME and Virginia to take part in the parade. No one spent the night in the city (at least on Macy's tab). The folks from Maine got on a bus at 8 p.m. Wednesday for the overnight trip.

So please, thank a Macy's employee on Black Friday. At the least, don’t harass any of them!