Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Maybe it is because of the food, or the nature of the holiday or that it’s not as commercialized as other holidays. Whatever it is, I always look forward to the one day when I wake up late, watch the Macy’s Day Parade and football and eat delicious home-cooked food.
But this year, I didn’t have Thanksgiving.
I did have Black Friday.
What? How could that be?
Black Friday is typically the day after or even the night of Thanksgiving. I am 4,000 miles away in the UK, where Thanksgiving is merely a mysterious holiday that some of my British friends reckon to be “just like a Sunday roast." Nothing special happens here, and for me, I even had two projects due on Thanksgiving day. However, I saw many signs and advertisements preparing for Black Friday in the UK. This makes absolutely no sense to me. For them, it is just an arbitrary day after an imaginary holiday.
There is no other explanation for this strange phenomenon other than the U.S. corporations bringing Black Friday over to their subsidiaries. Asda, a Walmart subsidiary, is probably the most notable for this. This insane “holiday” of sorts where people trample each other just to get items on sale has now been brought to another country, and it is all our fault. I suppose you can tell that I think the concept is a bit ridiculous.
British people take queuing (standing in line) very seriously, so I figured that the damage may not be as bad here. Although most stores were relatively calm last year, there were a few fights that broke out and still massive amounts of people. Call me a pessimist, but I do not foresee UK's version of Black Friday becoming a more calm experience in years to come.
There has been some push back from the British public, complaining that this is another U.S. trend entering their culture. However, many still go out to claim the big discounts and buy items they do not even need. Simply, it’s all a ploy for corporations to make more money, and the UK has folded to American marketing. I still don’t really understand how they have Black Friday without Thanksgiving, but I guess it is working so far.
