Kaylee Pierce
CONTRIBUTOR
As Thanksgiving approaches thoughts lead to turkeys and pumpkin pie. For some, shopping is also on their minds.
A somewhat ironic tradition, Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving, a holiday meant to reflect on what really matters— family, good food and time to relax. All this just before hordes of tired, angry people stand in lines for hours in hopes of holiday sales.
The time when families spend a full day in a turkey coma is dwindling. Stores are now laying out their super deals Thursday night— Thanksgiving. What used to be a day to be thankful, is now a day for consumers to push and shove their way to the next big deal.
Stores usually offer their absolute best deals on Thanksgiving night. The deals don’t last long. They usually end and another event starts on Black Friday. New deals, not as good. Most people go out for the best of the best. Thanksgiving is long forgotten.
Senior Britney Meyer said that she has mixed feelings on the tradition of Black Friday, and is thankful the Scheels where she is employed doesn’t open on Thanksgiving.
“In my opinion, that takes away from family time not only for customers, but also employees,” Meyer said. “I’m thankful that Scheels still sees the importance of that.”
I work two retail jobs, one of which I am a supervisor at. I am also a full time college student. I don’t get much time with my family. It seems life has a habit of getting in the way. When Black Friday gets moved up to being Black Thursday, it requires more staff to be present. That’s where I come in. It takes time away from a family holiday.
For people who have family flying in from all places, do you want to spend your holiday fighting through throngs of people anxious to get their hands on that next big thing? Or do you want to spend a special day filled with family and stories told around a table filled with delicious food, all of your favorites?
Black Friday needs to be a Black Friday. As Thanksgiving slowly becomes a day to shop instead of a day to be thankful, families don’t get their day together. We don’t say thank you and eat we say “thank you, let’s go shop!”
Sales shouldn’t start on Thursday. Thanksgiving shouldn’t have to be about money or shopping. It needs to be about family, about that precious time together. We need to be thankful for what we have instead of going out to grab what we think we need but don’t have yet. So sit down, enjoy your pie, drink some eggnog and tell embarrassing stories about your family members.
