Thanksgiving Day is celebrated as one of the most profound holidays, celebrating the happiness of being thankful for all that we have. The day after, Black Friday, is when we forget all of that. This year, just like all of those in the past, was no different. The sales and the madness continued.
The only difference this year was that the sales began earlier and people became more animalistic in their desire to get the best deals. Watching all of the coverage on Black Friday led me to find it interesting how people are able to celebrate Thanksgiving one day and throw all of that away just hours later.
Naturally, because of this madness, Thanksgiving has become a material holiday. People are turning away from celebrating the day of being thankful and more toward focusing on the next holiday, which is now just under a month away. Much like Christmas, which became a material holiday a while back, Thanksgiving is too becoming a more consumer-based holiday. It has centered itself around a plate of sales and deals instead of the traditional dish of turkey and gravy.
But why?
The mad rush to get the best deal at the best store at the best time has become what some people live for each year. Nevertheless, with this continuation of buying, there comes more competition — between both retailers and shoppers.
This year, businesses opened much earlier on Black Friday. Toys R Us retail locations commenced their sales at 9 p.m., a time when many were just finishing up their Thanksgiving meals. Macy's opened their doors at midnight, welcoming some 9,000 people into their headquarter store in New York City. And as always, Walmart marked their prices down starting at 10 p.m., staying open the usual 24 hours.
Opening early has brought Black Friday to consuming Thanksgiving Thursday. There is little division from the holiday and the day after the holiday. In fact, many people have decided it is easier to just go shopping rather than spend time with annoying family members who just do not get their shopping obsession.
That's right, I see it as an obsession.
No offense to anyone who traversed out of his or her homes and stood in line to grab a sale Thursday, of course, but I simply just do not get why you would go out into that madness. Why would you want to wake up at that ungodly time and stand in line to get a discount? Is that really what are society has become?
I sure hope not. Now, I am sure that many people go out Friday morning for the experience. But some people go out and take part in this — legitimately getting upset because they don't score the best deal on Black Friday. It's almost like that day is the only day they can shop and that Christmas begins next week. And because of this, it usually turns violent. Again, there was no change this year.
It seems like Walmart was the hot spot to get caught in the violent crossfire's. According to CNN, a woman in California pepper sprayed twenty others as she tried to grab the last remaining item off a Walmart shelf. In similar Black Friday related incidents, people were shot in a Walmart parking lot in both California and South Carolina. Black Friday has become Black and Blue Friday thanks to all of these injuries.
With the biggest push at the major retailers every year, last year there was a move away from this tradition. Retailers, on the local level, and local communities begging for consumer attention, got on their knees, hoping people would tap into small businesses.
The day, which is the Saturday following Thanksgiving, has become known as Small Business Saturday. The idea? Spend money locally. Why? Local money stays local, unlike large retail chains. Additionally, it was a more peaceful move to strive away from the big retail locations and instead run down the street to the little mom and pop store.
Black Friday has truly become out of its element. It has become too much to handle. It has become a day in which we seem to forget why we are thankful, something celebrated just hours before the shopping spree begins. Be thankful for being able to even partake in this day, because so many cannot. And I'm sure they are tired of seeing greed and envy get in the way of what should be a thankful celebration of life and family and what one already has.
