I am a big supporter of America”s 11-month-long celebration of Christmas and other end-of-the-year holidays – I always have been. I can”t stop myself from getting excited by the Halloween decorations that are put up mid-September, because I know it means that soon Thanksgiving merchandise will take its place and even sooner after that it will be replaced by Christmas.
A lot of people take issue with this for various reasons. Some argue that our culture is so geared toward Christmas celebrations that we ignore the other winter holidays. Others argue the opposite, claiming saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” is a blatant declaration of war against Christmas, because it insults the popular Christian holiday.
For the most part, I disregard these arguments as frivolous, because the holiday season brings so much good in that it carries a universal sense of cheer and brings out the best in most people.
Erin Bamer
But there is one popular argument I side with – that the abundant commercialization of the holidays completely misses the point of the season and undermines its value. Proof of this phenomenon is manifested in one annual epidemic that only grows stronger each November. You guessed it – Black Friday.
Black Friday is such a completely ridiculous concept that it almost doesn”t seem real. The idea of a day for people to spend hunting for the best holiday sales doesn”t seem so horrible, but then there”s the fact that the event takes place mere hours after everyone celebrates the things in life that are actually important, like family and friends.
It only gets worse each year, too. More and more people take part, spurred by greed and their reluctance to spend a couple cents less on a pumpkin-spice-scented candle they could have purchased two days earlier. More businesses are jumping on the bandwagon as well, driven by similar greed.
There seems to be a new competition among companies as well to see which store will open its doors for Black Friday sales the soonest. By now, multiple businesses are offering deals at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, and even more keep their doors open on Thanksgiving Day, twisting the knife even deeper.
Very few stores make the honorable decision to close their doors on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but not enough make this choice.
Why Thanksgiving? Why choose one of the only holidays that actually promotes a decent message to plan an event that completely negates everything the holiday stands for?
While endlessly frustrating, there”s nothing I can do about it, nor can anyone else who is as irritated by this trend as I am. Maybe a few years from now businesses will be racing to open their sales so early that we”ll have Black Friday the day after Halloween instead, and Thanksgiving Black Fridays will just be a not-so-fond memory.
If anyone is wondering where I”ll be on Thanksgiving night, I”ll be with my family, reminiscing and being grateful for them and everything else that matters in my life, because that”s the whole point.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer