Okay, yeah, but what about inner-thigh-ne? I get those. They're painful and HUGE. They're so satisfying to pop - but painful - but instead of scarring they're so big and take such a grip to pop that I sometimes get little black and blue marks before it all fades!

Am I the only one for whom astringent doesn't work on any part of the body, including face? It may as well be plain water for all the good it does. No medication ever seems to have any effect, topical or oral. But my acne is not bad enough to warrant Accutane etc..

aww, derp!

If they were actually forced to think about it, sure, but most of them...don't. They wallow in food and watch football and seem to have no idea at all that the holiday is based in genocide.

And those folks should have things like double time, voluntary sign-up, shorter shifts, rotating holidays etc. to make it more worthwhile. Nobody ever raised a ruckus, but perhaps they should have.

It is?

A few of my clients are medical professionals and they're quite clear that holidays mean skeleton crew at the hospital, with doctors at home on call. It is most definitely NOT "all hands".

Grad students DO choose their work weeks. They chose to go to grad school.

I'm with ya. I think she may be lying about the working lawyers, and she's definitely got some strange office worker friends if they work Thanksgiving. It's so...weird and not like any sort of universe I inhabit that I think it may be trolling. Maybe? Or maybe she's serious and she has friends who work in regular…

Then it is really too sad for you that you didn't prepare well. Boo hoo. Next time, plan better.

You know that they put those marathons on so 99% of the station staff can go home and it's like, just two guys with a switchboard, right? And they're getting paid extra? Right? They don't keep a full staff...you know that, right?

Why is a boycott not feasible?

If I don't want to shop a certain stores because seriously, fuck them, how is it not feasible to carry that out? If a lot of people feel the same way, how is it not feasible for them to do so?

A boycott is quite feasible.

I'm still very curious which lawyers and cubicle dwellers you know who work Thanksgiving. I know literally not one.

I dont' think it's that hard to define 'essential'. If there could be big problems without it, it's essential. So utility workers, bus drivers, hotels, gas stations etc. are in fact essential (depends on the bus route, though - no reason not to go to a skeleton schedule). Plumbers and electricians will usually take…

I just don't think it matters if people want to go to casinos...those workers should be off, or if they're voluntary, it should be truly voluntary. And if the company can't stay open because not enough people volunteer (and the company/service is nonessential), they close.

"Is a small restaurant morally obligated to close?"

Then perhaps other than hotel workers (you can't just turn all guests out of a hotel on Christmas Day) they should be off too. There is no reason for casinos or restaurants to be open (although if a family-run restaurant chooses to be, and can do that with just family or truly voluntary workers...okay).

Because low wage jobs don't provide the perks that better-compensated jobs do, so working holidays is like salt in the wound?

I'm curious about who is in your universe. In mine, the few doctors I know may be on call, I know someone who works for emergency services and she's on call, but otherwise, yeah, no...nobody I know needs to work on holidays. A few choose to (catch up on emails etc) but nobody NEEDS to, and most are off. My circle is…

Emergency staff (fire, medical, police) are one thing. Finance bros CHOOSE to work and are compensated handsomely, if they work holidays at all (the stock market's closed, so I don't think most of them actually do) and get other perks like the aforementioned good pay, a real office, flextime, health insurance. Lawyers…

I don't think most of those should be working, either. Hotels, airports and gas stations etc., yes, because people do travel and you can't just...not have anywhere to get gas or anyone to talk to if you're staying at Red Roof In because Grandma Crappadocia's house smells like pee and you always get spider bites, and…