Black Friday doesn't deserve same level of focus, attention as holiday
As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us prepare to gather with family and loved ones to share a traditional turkey dinner and give thanks for everything in our lives.
Over the years however, the following day, known as Black Friday, has started to take precedence and become more anticipated over the national holiday.
It’s a commercial holiday, when stores nationwide hold huge sales in preparation for the Christmas season. While I am not one to argue a bargain, I feel that celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family is much more significant than any consumer sale.
Typically, retail stores open their doors to the shopping frenzy at midnight, but competition has led them to opening as early as 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. This deters people from enjoying their Thanksgiving gatherings because now the main purpose is to ensure they don’t miss out on any of the sales. The employees of these retail stores are affected as well because they are required to work Thanksgiving night.
One of the greater qualities of the Thanksgiving holiday is that the true meaning of the celebration has not been fully tainted by consumerism — at least not yet. To most, Christmas is just about Santa Claus and presents rather than faith, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of Hallmark’s retail price on love and Easter has become the day when an oversized bunny hops around the world giving little kids chocolate eggs.
While I don’t completely condemn these rituals, because I too enjoy celebrating them, I feel we have let our holidays be consumed by consumerism, and I fear Black Friday will do the same to Thanksgiving.
If we let this continue, stores are just going to continue opening earlier, and what was once a time to join together in thanks will become a time of preparing for the next holiday rather than enjoying the current one.
Black Friday can be a fun after-Thanksgiving ritual for family and friends to do together, but it shouldn’t be the main focus. This season we should focus on Thanksgiving and not allow Black Friday to affect the holiday itself. The stores aren’t going to disappear if you wait a few hours; they’ll still be there Friday, as will the sales. So enjoy Thanksgiving rather than waiting in ridiculous lines to get the perfect present.
Honestly, when I think back to last Christmas, I cannot recall what I received or what I gave to others but rather where I went and whom I celebrated with.
As corny as this may sound, presents aren’t what make the holidays so great. It’s the people and the celebrations themselves, and unfortunately, many people may have forgotten that.