I forget who asked--HSIN, maybe?--but yes, Thanksgiving in the US is very often a four-day weekend. Many schools give kids the Friday off.
Work-wise, though, it's different if you're in service or retail. It's called Black Friday and it's the make-or-break day for so many retail businesses that a tradition of huge sales that start insanely early has sprung up.
In effect, we go from a day of giving thanks for all we have to a day of insane and utter greed, as if what we have means nothing at all. There are people who refuse to participate in this, but not many. Even some people who complain about the commercialization of Christmas participate in the Black Friday sales to get Christmas gifts cheaper.
What this has to do with Thanksgiving? Not much, except that I guess retailers are pretty thankful when their books get out of the red and into the black (that's how it got the name Black Friday).
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