Black Friday sales are beginning on the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day. Christmas decorations are placed in stores the moment Halloween is over. Businesses such as Starbucks are making loads of money from the idea that as soon as Halloween ends, the world has to turn into its own little snow globe with red cups and peppermint-flavored drinks in everyone’s hands.
As a child I knew what Black Friday was all about. I have participated in the shopping frenzy a few times, but never to the extreme that you see on all the news channels. It wasn’t until I grew older that I began to realize how terrible it is that the moment after we sit around a table and name all of the things we are thankful for, we rush to the stores and buy as many material items as we can fit into our baskets, shoving people down along the way. To know that most retail workers have to spend their day of thanks at work dealing with crazy customers is horrendous. What happened to making the holiday season about families and good fortune? What happened to giving people a break and staying home with your loved ones who are visiting you from across the country? Our society has created this notion that the holidays are about getting as many great deals as you can. We no longer care about quality family time and helping out in the kitchen, sharing stories from years ago. We are raising kids to believe that Thanksgiving is about preparing to stay up late and go shopping for things we do not need. Is getting a cheaper-priced item more important than spending time with a relative who may not be around for the next holiday season?
Christmas, too, has become just as bad. As if it weren't enough that we're overlooking Thanksgiving for Black Friday, we are overlooking Thanksgiving and Black Friday for Christmas! Each year stores are beginning their Christmas set-up earlier and earlier. There is no time to enjoy this beautiful holiday, whose most people have probably forgotten. I admit, I do enjoy Christmas tunes almost every day of the year, but hey, I am a child at heart. I do not agree with setting up the Christmas tree when the weather is still blazing hot. I do not think kids should be taking photos with Santa at the mall before they even have a Thanksgiving turkey in their fridge. Christmas has become all about the money. Society has an agenda to make as much off of it as they can with no regard for the fact that not everyone celebrates this holiday, so not everyone is OK smelling pine trees in October.
As I grow older, I take note of things I like and things I don’t in order to get some idea of how I want to raise my own family. I believe that Christmas should be treasured. I believe that the holiday season should be entirely centered around family. I hope, as the years pass, we can direct our focus back to time spent with family, not time spent in the stores.
