Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday (maybe second to Halloween). Thanksgiving, unlike Christmas, was all about family, friends, and being grateful; now Thanksgiving is about friends, family, and being GREEDY.
A decade ago, Black Friday meant opening an hour earlier the day after Thanksgiving. Year after year, we have seen Black Friday’s start time creep up earlier and earlier with stores trying to beat others’ openings. Last year almost every major retailer opened at midnight the second Thanksgiving ended. This year there is only one way for retailers to beat that: by opening on Thanksgiving. This leaves me to question, where will retailers and customers draw the line? A decade from now, will retailers close at all for Thanksgiving? Will Black Friday become “Black Thursday”?
I have spent some time pondering: who has the power to make this stop? Is it the customers who trade time with their family in favor of buying things that they do not even need? The retailers who would rather put more money in their pockets than allow their employees to spend the holiday with their family? Or is it the retail employees who are forced to sleep through most of Thanksgiving because they have to head into work before the holiday is even over? Must retail employees take a united stand before retailers stop this ridiculous one-upping of one another?
Unfortunately, there will be a customer who would rather shop on Thanksgiving to save a buck then spend time with the family. There will be a retailer who will meet that demand.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I absolutely hear you. It's such a bummer that a holiday that's managed in so many ways to avoid commercialization just gets eclipsed by the explicitly commercial activities that are supposed to fall on the next day. I don't even get the appeal. I don't have a lot of money, but I'm more than happy to see any extra money I spend on a gift item NOT being from a black friday sale as a premium I'm willing to pay for not being a douche standing in line at Best Buy in 30 degree weather.
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