Thanksgiving is a time of year where Americans come together and celebrate what they have. It's a time of year where we cook, we eat, watch football, and completely whitewash a piece of history where we committed cultural genocide on an entire group of people. But regardless of my passive aggressive political comments, this article is about taking time to reflect on things to be thankful for. The problem with this time of year is that immediately following Thanksgiving, Black Friday swoops in and makes everything about prices.

We go from being thankful to being greedy almost instantaneously.

I remember being a little kid and loving the holidays. We all went to my grandma's house and spent the day together. We laughed, told stories, and genuinely enjoyed each other's company. We didn't care about what was on sale the next day because we had each other. And don't get me wrong, I have no problems with anyone who goes Black Friday shopping, you do you. However, our society has become so fixed on materialism that we lose focus of what these holiday seasons are about. They are about being together and remembering what we have and being thankful for it.

Now that I've ripped into you all about Thanksgiving, time for Christmas. I love Christmas, I love the music, I love the music, I love the smiles on my friend's face when I give them that sentimental gift that really meant something to them. I just love it all. I get all wrapped in my nostalgia-themed gift wrap that I don't even notice materialism sneak in and poke its ugly face in.

Now, around this time of year, materialism appears in the form of a fat white boy in red velvet pants. That's right... I'm talking about the creepy dude who you stand in line for hours for just so you can sit on his lap and take a picture. The guy who eats so much processed sugar and complex carbohydrates in one night that he's a borderline medical miracle. I'm talking about Buddy the Elf's wet dream, Santa Claus.

Now, before anyone jumps down my throat in the comments and threatens to stab me with a candy cane, I got no beef with the big guy. I think his symbolism of holiday cheer and the fact that he's the nuclear deterrent against children being brats for a month is a marketing miracle. I just hate... well just about everything else.

I hate that he's the reason we celebrate, I hate that we have forgotten that Christmas is a holy day and should at least have those sentiments behind it. Instead, all we think about is Santa and whether or not our mom is going to get us that Xbox we wanted. I'm guilty of all of these things, and hell I'm not perfect, but I know we can be better.

Stay safe and have a great holiday break!