Thanksgiving. A tradition that consists of family, plentiful food, laughter and joy, and a lot of thanks. Welp, that was then.....
...this is now....
and of course this.....
Yes my friends. Black Friday has totally stolen Thanksgiving's thunder. I really feel that in the near future, they may soon call this family gathering as Black Friday eve.
Being that I have spent this holiday away from family with just me and the hubby solo, it made me go into this holiday this year with a mindset that I was going to spend time with family and truly be thankful that I get to spend it with them and good food.
Now that I'm here in the states, and around the retail world, I have found that Black Friday has taken the Thanksgiving meaning through the temptations of huge sales and overbearing sale ads that make it impossible to resist.
Starting from the beginning of Thanksgiving week, all that was being stuffed into my mind were commercials, web banners, and magazine ads of all that will be on sale, therefore subliminally telling me that I really need to buy that one $3 hand mixer or else my life will never be the same, or I have to stand in a line Thanksgiving day so that I could be one of the first 50 to receive a $10 gift card. It seemed as though my life would not be complete if I weren't able to accomplish these big sale adventures.
So Thanksgiving day came and went. I was surrounded by food, family, and laughter, and was happy....but I must admit, throughout the day, the darker it got, the more my heart began to pitter patter with anticipation. I was excited about getting my hands on the sale items and carrying load os shopping bags full of purchased goods. Midnight came, and I think that the hours following after would change my view on Black Friday forever.
It. Was. Nuts.
Although I was determined to get the super cheap items and freebies they gave if you were to spend X amount of money, after I saw the lines to get in and to pay.....those incentives didn't seem that important.
But, I was already here, and I couldn't let this time invested go to waste.
While I waited in line with my infamous shopping partner, for 2 hours just to pay, I had an epiphany. I cannot believe that people go through these lengths just to get that special deal or free incentive. I mean, It was after 2am, I'm sure more than half these people were running on no sleep, some people had kids, and I felt like we were in a cow herd, because it was just impossible to move around the isles without getting an evil eye or hit with a shopping cart.
It was not an attractive sight. Also....when I passed by the electronics section, the poor cashiers in their little area looked like they were being smothered by stock people trying to buy stock before the time ended. Crazy.
To think that people would go to these lengths and doing it with a miserable mood, totally makes you miss out on the true meaning of the holiday season. Also, the fact that people would sleep outside in the cold on Thanksgiving day so that they could be one of the first is just plain reDONKulous. That has to show you what the priorities of most are. Most shops were also, actually open on Thanksgiving day, that totally sucks balls for the workers....I tell you, if I were still in retail and had to work on Thanksgiving, I would totally resent this holiday and would never look forward to this day of turkey.
I'm telling you, these retailers are totally taking away the true meaning of this traditional holiday.
Save Our Turkcy!
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