Let’s get this straight. I can almost bet that when the bulk of todays Americans think about Thanksgiving traditions they think TV, football, family and food comas. For my house, these traditions are the norm. Each holiday season the spiritual vibe of the holiday sets in for my family due to the full, crammed house my 3 siblings and I make up by all returning from college. We start the day with the few TVs throughout the downstairs echoing background noise of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Our family and some family-friends arrive around 2, and the men have a football pass outside while the women finish up last minute cooking and stir together the ‘drink of the year’, last year, being my pick – the infamous pumpkin spice martini.
As the parade sounds from the surround sound speakers every brisk Thanksgiving morning, so do the commercials. Not the commercials to remind us to celebrate the importance of family, and no, not the commercials advertising the best turkey seasoning, Black Friday commercials. Last Thanksgiving, a certain commercial that played during the parade grasped my attention as if it said my name. The commercial was the most ridiculously materialistic ad regarding this day of shopping for things we do not need. Don’t get me wrong; I do participate in some shopping on Black Friday. Also I can’t ignore the fact that it IS the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s only appropriate to be advertising for it now. Though the entire commercial pierced my ears with what the holiday season unfortunately could come to, the worst part of the whole thing was the opening times that the flawless announcing voice shouted. The store being advertised would be opening at 4:30 PM, on Thanksgiving.
“That’s freakin’ ridiculous,” I can vividly remember my mother mumbling under her breathe without taking her eyes off of the garlic mashed potato’s she was mixing as the commercial faded out. I shook my head in total agreement.
Next thing you know, the topic of discussion we had sitting around our red oak dining room table that evening after stuffing our faces with seconds of sweet potato pie, was about Black Friday. Appropriate enough to back up our arguments about how unbelievable the custom has become, my cousin Kim’s holiday was directly affected with the shopping fiasco that is taking over Thanksgiving. As an employee at her local ‘Bath and Body Works’ she was put on the schedule for the dreadful 6 p.m. – 1 a.m. shift to sell ‘pepperminty, cinnamony’ candles and soaps. My Uncle Marc had to leave the Thanksgiving celebrations early to take her to work and also, had to stay awake despite the tryptophan from the turkey kicking in causing him endless yawns well before 1 AM. My family fumed with anger. Rather than embrace what the holiday is all about, Kim was going to spend seven hours meeting the needs of the overachiever Christmas shoppers and repeatedly asking them if “there’s anything special they came in to look for today”. The fact that my 20-year-old cousin and her father had to miss out on some of the celebrations that symbolized thankfulness for friends and family amongst our group, to work, was unheard of. But, I am starting to understand that this issue illustrates what American holidays have come to… not just on the fourth Thursday in November, but also on many other important occasions.
As we approach the brunt of the fall season, pumpkin spice fills the air in preparation for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Also during this time, you’d be lying if you said you have not overheard any Christmas chatter beginning. What has the holiday season come to? We are constantly sprinting from one event to the next before we even have time to embrace the one we are celebrating at the time. From thinking about my story from last Thanksgiving, I can imagine it’ll continue to worsen for all aspects of holidays one might celebrate in America if we don’t put a stop to it soon.
I decided to speak to a retail worker to get their perspective on the rushing through holidays, Thanksgiving in specific, considering is so bothersome to my family and I. A friend of a friend has worked at 5 below for as long as he can remember. I stopped in the shop one rainy night and Fady told me that the rush between seasons was ‘annoying and tacky’ as he cashed out the register eager to leave right when his shift ended. He was dressed in a green vest with the 5 below logo written across the right side of it on the chest. Fady expressed how he had to work a shift beginning at 4 a.m. last Thanksgiving, similar to my cousin Kim. “I missed Thanksgiving dinner ‘cause I wanted to sleep so I wasn’t dragging during the whole shift.” He told me in a tone of irritation and anger. When my family said goodbye to my cousin who left for an evening shift, we did not even consider the other possible shift times retail workers would service.
I can deal with the hype of ringing in the New Year after Christmas is over, I can also handle the mushy Valentines day candy and teddy bears on the shelves soon after that, but, the one holiday that really grinds my gears to be overlooked and forgotten, (especially for a “holiday” to shop for another holiday) is, Thanksgiving. As a materialistic society as a whole, we have become so tangled in the idea that Christmas/ Hanukkah/ or whatever you choose celebrate is all about the gifts. Though cliché, it’s really about the spirit of family, love, and giving in more ways than physical items that you’d buy at the mall. Black Friday takes over what Thanksgiving is all about, and adds to the lack of what Christma-Hanukah-Kwanza is supposed to be – more than just getting and giving gifts.
The dictionary defines Thanksgiving as ‘the act of giving thanks’. During the fall season I am continuously looking for an answer to the riddle involving malls and shopping centers opening and bringing their employees in away from their family tables to cater to those eager to receive the best deals on their holiday shopping, in relation to “giving thanks”. To me, giving thanks is giving those hard working retail employees the night off. To me, giving thanks is making it impossible for those shoppers to leave their home; forcing them to realize what really matters – the family and friends they should be with on that day, the holiday that we are celebrating at that moment, Thanksgiving.
Too many people in today’s day and age are quick to hop around, quick to plan for tomorrow or even next month rather than enjoy the sunshine of today. Though I am not quite sure where to point the finger, I can say it wouldn’t be completely wrong to direct it at the media and technology that we have to have these days. The media around the holidays would make an impact by spending more time promoting the spirit that should fill our homes and less time advertising the shoe store with the best deals for Uggs on Black Friday.
A lesson that should be taught during the holiday season is to embrace and be thankful for the present moment. This lesson shouldn’t be taught by teachers, or even just from your everyday person, family, or mentors but also from the media and society. Holidays allow us to stop worrying about every day struggles and business affairs for a while, and give thanks and appreciation to what we do have going for us as privileged Americans. If people took a second to breathe and embrace Thanksgiving Day before they planned for holiday shopping, the gift-giving season would have more meaning, especially because the gifts will be thoughtful rather than obligatorily gift receipts to a family member bought at 2 a.m. without love behind it.
