Black Friday used to begin midnight or later, long lines of people ready to jumpstart the Christmas spirit after a wonderful evening of delicious food and time with friends and family. A time to stay up late and shop around for all the tremendous Christmas deals in the middle of the night (which is part of the fun). Now people are beginning to skip Thanksgiving altogether. People don’t even care about a holiday that has so much meaning!

Regardless of your religion, Thanksgiving is an opportunity for EVERY American to celebrate what they are thankful for in their lives, and if anything I think it’s one of the most unifying holidays we have. Spending one day a year reminding yourself what you’re thankful for should be a minimum, now it’s hardly even that!

Stores are ruining the entire point of Thanksgiving.

The purpose of Thanksgiving is to spend time being mindful of what you have in life and overlooking what you don’t have. With Black Friday beginning on Thursday, people are worrying about what they can buy and how they can get to the front of the lines for the best deals, not giving thanks. Stores are making people greedier and less thankful.

Stores are forcing workers to miss out on a relaxing holiday that they may not want to miss in the first place.

With people currently struggling to even have a job in the first place, the last option a person has is taking off on a holiday. Companies that choose to open on Thanksgiving are forcing their employees to miss out on a day that should be devoted to spending time with friends and family. If you think opening the evening of Thanksgiving isn’t that late, think of the employees who have to be there ahead of time for stocking, cleaning and preparation! These crazy Black Friday expectations aren’t even giving workers an option anymore.

It’s not fair to the Black Friday lovers that also want to enjoy Thanksgiving.

For anyone like me, who looks forward to a Thanksgiving dinner AND amazing holiday deals, opening on Thursday is simply not fair, and not right! A lot of in-store Black Friday deals are usually on a first come first serve basis, and sometimes that’s part of the fun! But what’s the point when people have already arrived way before you?

I want to jump into the Christmas spirit with buying presents on Black Friday, but I want to begin on Friday.

But for real, how can this be stopped?

I don’t want to sound like the leader of an activist group but seriously, people need to start voicing their opinions on this issue. Companies are constantly finding ways to portray a good image for their customers, so the more we complain about their choices the more likely they will change!

T.G.I.F.

So enjoy your Black Friday, have fun, stay up, and get the best deals. But please, give thanks with your family on Thursday and begin the craze on Friday.

Black Friday was on FRIDAY for a reason!!!

Let’s bring it back to T.G.I.F., not T.G.I.T.