It seems like every year it gets worse. I recently passed a shopping mall's window display which read, "Black Friday- Stores open at 2 on Thanksgiving!" Okay, seriously?! I have no issue with spending the day after Thanksgiving shopping for some great deals. Hell - that sounds fun! But when Black Friday starts to cut into family tradition is where I draw the line. Here's the top three reasons why I think Black Friday has become the most ridiculous day of the year.
1. It takes away from Thanksgiving.
I think I speak for most Americans when I say that I very much enjoy Thanksgiving. I love sitting around the table with family and sharing a nice meal. It really is a nice day to sit back and reflect on all of the things you have to be thankful for, but Black Friday is starting to overshadow Thanksgiving in more ways than one. Most stores now a days open at around 2pm on Thanksgiving. ON THANKSGIVING. A NATIONAL HOLIDAY!!! The even crazier part of the whole Black Friday ordeal is the PEOPLE ACTUALLY GO SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING!!! Yes, some people actually get up from their tables and go Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving. I thought it was called Black FRIDAY for a reason...but maybe I'm wrong. To me, the hype around Black Friday has gotten completely out of hand. Honestly, what is more important than sharing a holiday meal with your family? Certainly not a 75% off toaster, right?
2. It's painfully ironic.
Here we are just coming from a nice family dinner to celebrate all of our blessings and what do we do next? We trample, push, shove and fight each other for new material items (that we probably don't need) just because they're a couple of dollars cheaper. So basically everything that we celebrated yesterday on Thanksgiving has been thrown out the window as we fight compete in a "Department Store Hunger Games" as I like to call it. It's sad! How is it that we can just forget the true meaning of the holiday we just celebrated in less than 24 hours?! I think it's partially because of how the media treats Black Friday as being "the only/best sale of the season!" Trust me, Black Friday sales are not the first nor the last of the holiday savings. Wait a day or two; I promise you'll be fine.
3. It undermines the true meaning of the holiday season.
Far too many of us forget that the holiday season (believe it or not) isn't about gifts. Yes, they're extremely thoughtful and while there is nothing wrong with gift giving, I feel like Black Friday fosters the idea that the holidays are all about materialism. Who's getting the best gift? Who's spending the most money? Who has the best taste? Here's another question: Who cares? The holidays are about tradition and spending time with family, not material things. This idea that material items are the most important factor of the holiday season is shameful and Black Friday completely encourages it. It was ok when Black Friday was just one day, but now that it's starting to cut into Thanksgiving, I think it's a real shame. I just hope that the majority of us can see past the commercials, magazines and newspaper ads that try to suck us into a black hole of consumerism and remember what's truly important: family, friends and the time we share together.
