Is Thanksgiving still a holiday? You wouldn’t think this was a hard question, seeing as how it’s still widely celebrated. Schools and offices give off to the days that are meant to be spent with family and friends; the people we’re thankful for. That’s what Thanksgiving’s all about, isn’t it? Sitting around a table passing the potatoes, or watching football in the living room nibbling on cheese and crackers, all the while passing the time in the company of the ones we love and give thanks everyday that we have in our lives. Or it least that’s how it used to be. Thanksgiving has slowly become more and more of a preface before the big event: Black Friday.
It used to be, you would get up early to be able to stand in the long line and wait as the doors open at five a.m. Then four a.m. Then three a.m. Then two a.m.? I supposed midnight is still considered Black Friday. Then it began at 10 p.m. Then eight p.m. Through the years, the big name and big bargain stores started opening earlier and earlier to draw in as many people as possible, and now this year certain stores are opening as early as five and six p.m. The last time I checked, not only were these times still a part of Thanksgiving Thursday, but they were also average dinner times. This is the one national day when all American families are invited to come together and be together, regardless of religious affiliation, economic status, race or any other factor. Some may just think of it as a meal, but the idea behind it means much more than that.
This is why the idea of Black Friday being pushed so far into the celebration of Thanksgiving takes away from the holiday and lessens its importance. This is not to say that Black Friday is a bad thing or that it shouldn’t happen or exist, but when the actual name of the day, Friday, takes place on Thursday, things don’t seem to add up. Door opening sales have already begun to cut into dinner time hours, either pushing some families to speed through and shorten their Thanksgiving, or interrupt it altogether.
There is only one Thanksgiving a year. One day out of 365 to devote to solely being with loved ones. There are obviously many people who decide to forgo the sales and spend the night in, maybe chancing the mad rush in the morning, if at all. These people don’t love their families more, or have their priorities more in check. What they do have though is a sense of another day. That though they might not get that big screen TV for $100 less, they spent their night with the people they care about instead pushing towards the front of a line. We shouldn’t have to make a decision between family time and time spent shopping for family.
When people say there is a time and place, Thanksgiving is that time and home is that place, whatever people consider home to be. If Black Friday is a family tradition, then there is nothing wrong with that, because being together is what matters. People shouldn’t feel forced to choose sides. When businesses decided to extend Black Friday, in a way, they shortened Thanksgiving. But it’s up to us and only us to decide when Thanksgiving ends.
