Recently I read a blog post that was passed around on facebook. It's a blog created by a guy named Matt Walsh and he wrote a blog post titled "If You Shop On Thanksgiving, You are Part of a Problem". It was a fantastic read and really got me thinking this past week about what I plan to do this year and what statement, though I may be one in millions, want to make.
Unlike Matt, I am a consumerist in this country. I love to shop, I love new things and I love Black Friday. I love a great deal, the crowds and excitement of shopping in the middle of the night. I now have a huge DVD collection and have bought numerous Christmas presents thanks to Black Friday deals. I have shopped on Black Friday for the past 5 years. The first year stores didn't open till about 5 or 6 am, the next year 4am, the next year 1am, the next year midnight, the next year 10pm, and now this year.... 6 pm!
When I found this out I was very upset! My first thought was... well looks like I'm not making it to a few stores this year since I have family coming into town to celebrate Thanksgiving. My second thought was well maybe I can make it to the stores that are opening at 8pm... But then I read Matt's Blog Post and I loved his approach to the topic he wasn't insulting or judgmental he was truthful and honest, sharing only his opinion.
So although I wish to get all the great deals that will be offered at 6pm or 8pm at some of these stores, I refuse to be one of the people in those lines keeping a daughter from her parents, a mother from her children, or anyone from the ability to spend a phenomenal holiday with their loved ones.
Many of us may see Thanksgiving as a day to stuff our faces and watch football but it is much more than that. It is a day to be grateful for everything money can't buy. It is a day to be thankful for family, friends, our freedoms and the gift of life and all the many blessings brought to us daily.
Thanksgiving has been a national holiday since 1863, but the first thanksgiving meal was shared in the fall of 1621. In 1620, many of our ancestors headed over to the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. It was long, journey lasting about 3-4 months. The winter was so brutal once they arrived to America that many still had to live on the ship and by the end of the winter only half of the original passengers survived. After so many deceased, I can imagine the morale of those still living in a unknown land, battling weakness and illness not knowing if they would be able to survive themselves. In the spring of 1621 the Pilgrims made friends with a few Native Americans that taught them how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. After their first corn harvest proved successful, they had a feast now known as Thanksgiving. They celebrated the gift of friendship, and the blessings of food and life.
We may now celebrate with different foods and with all different people of different religions and different ethnicities but it is still time to celebrate and be grateful....NOT a time to shop and think about what do I NEED. It is a time to be grateful for what we have been already blessed with!
I want to cherish the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving and someday I hope for my children to know the significance of this holiday and not be standing in lines spending money on things they feel they can't live without. I want them to always be grateful, and have a time to share with others what they are thankful for. So I have decided that although stores are opening early Thanksgiving evening I will not be doing my Black Friday shopping till after midnight on Friday!
I may be only one person and my decision may not make a difference at all. It is very likely that stores will continue to open earlier and earlier to the point where Thanksgiving is Black Thursday instead. As long as there are people piling into the stores they will continue to open earlier and earlier to make those extra bucks but I would rather be one of the few than one of the many on the side of what I believe is right.
I hope those that do decide to shop on Thanksgiving feel I am not trying to judge or be condescending in any way. I have shopped on Thanksgiving before but I have put a lot of thought into this and this is my opinion and my choice. So just do me a favor, just think about it before you go shopping this Friday Thursday about what statement you are making and what is most important to you.
I wanted to add a few stores hour that I will be attending purely because they aren't opening til the actual day of Black Friday and not on Thanksgiving. Every location has different hours but these are the hours in Cypress, Texas:
1. PetsMart- open at 7 a.m.
2. Charming Charlies: open at 8 a.m.
3. Famous Footwear: open at 8 a.m.
4. Barnes & Noble (Champions): open at 9 a.m. (Copperfield): open at 8 a.m.
5. IKEA: open at 10 a.m.
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