Seven thankless NJ jobs working on Thanksgiving

Retailers in malls opening for Thanksgiving is a recent phenomenon that has brought about petitions and a certain amount of outrage from the general public. How dare they make employees push back from the table and leave their families on such a holiday!

The sentiment is there because this is something fairly new. Ten years ago it was unheard of. But jobs that have always been working on Thanksgiving are taken for granted and no sympathy is given. Where's the Change.org petition for these folks?

Off the top of my head, I give you 7 thankless jobs working on Thanksgiving. There are probably others and please feel free to add more in the comment section below.

1) First-responders
I'm putting police, firefighters, EMTs, etc. under the broad group but they each have their own reasons for the thankless nature of their jobs. Police officers have been scrutinized like never before in this country and mostly for unfair reasons. As difficult as this job has become thanks to a few bad apples, they never complain. They continue to risk their lives for us everyday, and they have ALWAYS worked on Thanksgiving. If they didn't, well, see a movie called The Purge. Firefighters, even volunteers, have to always be ready. Imagine being a volunteer firefighter and called to a fire just as the family is sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. EMTs are one of the most underpaid groups of skilled workers to begin with, and yes they will be there to save you on Thanksgiving.

2) Gas attendants
We talk a big game in New Jersey about how much we don't want to pump our own gas, but does anyone really feel all that grateful for the guys in this job? And when Thanksgiving rolls around we don't even think about a gas station not being open because they always are and they always have been. Guess what? That guy pumping your gas so that you don't have to (get out in the cold, have your hands smell like fuel all day, etc.) has family too and he might like to see them once in awhile.

3) Airport staff
From security to pilots, flight attendants to gate agents, those who work in the airline industry are taken for granted. They have always worked holidays. When you pick up your brother at Newark Liberty Thanksgiving morning because he couldn't fly out the day before you don't think twice about the airport being closed. It never is.

4) Hospital staff
Just like first responders, you know going in to a hospital position that you will be working holidays. Thanksgiving is one of them. Accidents and heart attacks still happen on the fourth Thursday of every November and we don't even question whether a hospital will be there if we need them. Of course they will be.

5) Toll collectors
While this is a job we wish DID have off for the holiday, like it or not they are still part of the system by which we get over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house. Since we hate paying tolls, we don't think about them as human beings. But they are people just like you, dwindling in number with the advent of EZ Pass, but there when we need to make the family rounds on Thanksgiving.

6) Movie theater workers
Not a glam job to start with, when Thanksgiving rolls around the theaters are always open. In fact a lot of movie release dates are planned around Thanksgiving. Frozen was one of them and remains the number one Thanksgiving weekend debut. It's been this way for as long as I can remember, therefore we don't question or feel bad for a theater employee having to give up their holiday. But God forbid when Macy's started doing it!

7) Restaurant workers
So many restaurants remain open on Thanksgiving that you can add this beleaguered group to the long line of forgotten jobs that never gets to spend Thanksgiving with their families. They are busy serving yours, because cooking was just too much work.

Have a thankless job to add to this list? Let us know @NJ1015 on Twitter or in the comment section below.

More from New Jersey 101.5