Thanksgiving has to be my favorite time of the year. My mom and grandmother start cooking as early as the night before making a buffet of delicious food for the next day. Even though my mom makes me wake up at the crack of dawn to help her cook thanksgiving dinner with my grandmother, I enjoy it.
I make memories and bond with my family as we slay in the kitchen and make a fantastic meal for my family. We might even have a food fight somewhere in between there; just make sure it does not get in my hair. I also love getting dressed up and color coordinating with my family— as cheesy as that sounds— so we can have a photoshoot later on that day.
I also enjoy the thanksgiving dinner itself with my family, one of the biggest things I am thankful for, and laughing over countless memories we have made and continue to make within the next year. Thanksgiving has always been about family and spending time together in my household.
However, this year, many people will not get the opportunity to sit with their family on thanksgiving night and eat a delicious meal with their family. Instead, they will be catering to the crazed people that decide to go shopping and wait hours on end in a line just to get a television set for $100 cheaper.
Instead of relaxing at home on a holiday, they will be standing on their feet while everyone else— including their family— is at home having a delicious meal. Black Friday is known as the day after Thanksgiving where stores would have the best sales of the year.
It’s meant to allow customers to buy their Christmas gifts, or gifts for themselves, at great low prices. In the past, these stores would open around five a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving. Even then, people would wake up around three a.m. just to wait in line to be the first ones to get their hands on these good deals.
However, things have changed and it’s gotten out of hand. Many stores have announced that they will open as early five p.m. on Thanksgiving night this year. Unfortunately, my younger sister works in a mass retailer store, that also opens at five p.m. on Thanksgiving day.
So no my sister will not be allowed to make memories with my mother and grandmother and I as we cook Thanksgiving dinner, or the countless laughs we will make throughout the day, or the prayer we do as a family.
Rather, my sister will be getting ready to go to work and prepare herself for the crazy people who think the sales the store offers are more important than the time they will get to spend with their family and more important than my sisters time to spend with our family.
I do not think that these shoppers take this into account. You may not care that you have to eat Thanksgiving dinner early, or stand in the cold outside waiting in line for hours. Did you ever think about the employees that have to deal with you?
There are employees that are forced to go to work on a holiday because America is too obsessed and hypnotized by consumerism. It is sad that there are enough people in America that would rather hit the good deals rather than spend time with their family.
If it wasn’t because we fed into this Black Friday craze more and more every year, stores would not feel obligated to open so early on a holiday. On the other hand there are some retail stores that are opting against this.
For example, DSW has announced that they will be closed Thanksgiving day, giving their employees the holiday off to spend it with their families. They instead will open their doors at seven a.m. the next morning.
There are companies that still value the meaning behind a holiday and understand the importance of spending time with their family. So, I will not feed into the Black Friday craze on Thanksgiving day.
I will spend time with my family and be thankful for the meal in front of me, the people surrounding me, and enjoy the time I have to spend with them. I hope this makes some of you think again about waiting in line at five p.m. to get a cute sweater or iPad this year and that I reminded you what Thanksgiving should be about.
Besides, everyone deserves a day off.
Susy Macias
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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