stores/restaurants being open on holidays.

My wife moved to this country all by herself at 19. For a while, she didn't have people to naturally spend holidays with. So she is sensitive to people wanting/needing to do things on holidays most of us would rather not do.

Her point is that not everyone is like you or me, with a lot of family to spend the holiday with, to share a nice meal with, and to enjoy the day with. For many people (and for a variety of reasons), the holidays can be very lonely and very painful. Many of these people WANT to work on the holidays. Many others appreciate that others are working, because grey Thursday shopping or going out for a meal are the only things they have to look forward to. If everything was closed, it would only pour salt in their wounds.

So while we often bark at stores for being open at times that are inconvenient for some of their workers, I try to remember that not everyone is like me, and that some stores being open is a blessing to more people than we probably realize.