It was a tradition for my family. We would prepare all day Thursday for our Thanksgiving dinner and then feast for hours on end. The night would come to an end at 10 PM, and this is where the nap happens.
Wait did he just say nap?
Yup, you heard me.
Nap at 10 PM, wake up by 11:30 PM, and head out on what's to be a very very long night.
Now my family was never the type to camp outside stores with little tents, but sure, we'd come to watch the hundreds of people line up and burst through the doors once midnight hit.
From then on our long night began, whether that be spectating the people fighting over headphones for 2.99, window shopping, or snagging a couple good deals. Black Friday, though a very odd tradition, was my family's tradition.
And for years it was exactly like this. Black Friday was Black Friday. Like every day, a new day begins at 12:00 AM.
However, today I've found that the "Black Friday Spirit" has dwindled for my family and I. Black Friday is no longer the Black Friday I grew up to love.
The idea of consumerism has literally consumed the mind of CEOs and managers for stores all over the United States. For the last 2-3 years, I've seen Black Friday start on Thursday, AKA Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a holiday known to bring in the family, have a feast around the table, and in my opinion, is really the ignition to start the Christmas spirit. The typical image of Thanksgiving is a family around the dinner table, a light snow fall outside, candles lit, the Christmas tree half set up because turkey came out of the oven a little earlier than expected and the sweet aroma of food that you've been preparing all day to eat.
However, families today are being ripped away from this. Those who rely on Black Friday deals to get their children what they want for Christmas must go at, and I hate saying this, 5:00 PM on Thanksgiving day to get that really good deal on the Playstation, train set, etc. Those who work retail must come in for their shift and deal with the chaos that is Black Friday, or should I say Black Thursday and Friday now?
It is sad to see that on a nationally recognized holiday, businesses are interrupting the traditional Thanksgiving dinner in order to earn a couple more bucks on discounted items. Many stores I've seen in newspapers are oddly open from 5:00PM Thanksgiving day to midnight, and then reopen for Black Friday at 6:00 AM. Well thanks, let me just leave in the middle of my Thanksgiving dinner, work till the wee hours of midnight to my now sleeping family, get maybe a good four hours of sleep and head back into the grind. I love this job so much. (much sarcasm included)
There's a reason why I said "I lovED" Black Friday. It was something fun that brought my family together, and now it rips my family apart.
