I wasn't looking for a debate either. Honestly...I was just stating what I've seen in my experiance.
I worked retail for years as well. I worked at Target. I didn't work because I enjoyed it or needed something to do with my time, I worked there because we *needed* the money to make ends meet. Without that money, we couldn't pay the rent. Most of my fellow employees, especially lower level employees, were in similar financial situations. I can't remember a single holiday (Target isn't open Christmas...) where there weren't people asking for the overtime. It was a great day to work. Getting paid overtime for the same shift you would have been paid regular time for otherwise, very few shoppers, so a nice slow pace. 'Corporate' didn't work those days, so no real 'projects'. I made time for my family around my work schedule. Like I said earlier....my DH begs for holiday hours, and we work around his schedule. Thanksgiving dinner will be a Thanksgiving brunch because he was able to schedule a swing shift for that day.