Throughout my entire life, I can remember seeing all kinds of sale ads or just advertisements in general about Black Friday Shopping, rather it be in sale ads we get in the mail, on commercials, or even online. Over the years I have noticed a change in Black Friday. Black Friday shopping has been progressively moving up in times. It is now practically during the day on Thanksgiving and that is not right.
Black Friday shopping moving more and more towards Thanksgiving Day takes away from the true meaning of the holiday. Growing up, the women in my family always talk every single holiday season about the irony of Black Friday Shopping. We take and spend that Thursday being mindful of all of our blessings but then go out the next day and fight people for more stuff we don’t need. You should be focused on everything you have been blessed with in this life every single day, but especially on Thanksgiving Day; not concerned with all of the new things you can go buy.
Workers are unable to spend time with their families because of this progressive upward movement of shopping times. Think about it, when you go shopping in general, an employee has to be at the store for you to do that. So imagine how many employees it takes to handle the chaos of Black Friday shopping. If you work in retail, you already know you are going to work on Black Friday, but to have to work on Thanksgiving Day too just is not fair. Everyone should get the opportunity to spend that day with their family members and loved ones.
I always think back to in elementary school when we would draw our hands and make them look like turkeys. On all of your fingers you would write something down that you were thankful for this year. The most common thing written down on those fingers, no matter the age of the artist, is always family.
Maybe Black Friday shopping is how you and your family spend time together during the holiday season. I think that is a great tradition to carry on, but it can wait until the day after Thanksgiving that way everyone can enjoy their own traditions too.
Do your best to stay home on Thanksgiving this year. Businesses won’t make money if less people go out; henceforth, they will send employees home. Then everyone can spend Thanksgiving how they are supposed to; surrounded by the ones they love and being thankful for all that they have been blessed with, not standing in line or fighting with other shoppers just to save a few dollars. Then everyone can go out on Friday for Black Friday shopping.
Happy Thanksgiving!