For some, Black Friday is a tradition they will never miss out on – waking up before the sun, pulling out the Christmas lists, and spending the day going from store to store to get all the deals they can. I do understand the draw of it. Christmas shopping can get expensive fast and the thought of getting nearly everything on sale is seductive. But, even with all of that, I could never see myself as someone who looks forward to Black Friday for weeks, let alone someone who plans my Thanksgiving holiday around it. To me, the holiday is too precious to spend it in stores with hundreds of stressed out people looking for the perfect gift.
I love Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday that has a lot of focus on the good things in life – mashed potatoes, pie, deep frying an entire turkey, and, of course, family. Since coming to college more than two years ago, I’ve grown to appreciate the holiday season even more. First of all, I get a great meal that doesn’t mean I have to eat in a dining hall or make my own food, plus you get all the leftovers. But, more importantly, it gives me a few days to spend relaxing with my family. Since kind of becoming an adult (at least a little bit), the times I get to see my entire family in one room are becoming more difficult to come by. Now we are all over the state, no longer in only one place. I’ve come to appreciate these moments with them so much. I love just sitting around with everyone in sweatpants during the holiday, and I love all of our traditions.
This brings me to Black Friday – our tradition on that day is one of my favorites things we do now. After having pancakes for breakfast all together, all of us suit up and get ready to face the usually cold November to go outside and start our competition. That competition you ask? We compete at throwing axes, throwing knives, blow darts, pellet gun shooting, paintball, and sometimes other random activities. One time, we tried a potato chip flavoring competition and last year we started an epic ping-pong battle, of which I am one of the reigning champs. We have a special trophy dedicated to the day and it’s something we all look forward to. It’s a fantastic way to try and work off some of the turkey before we eat our leftovers for lunch and we get to do all of it together. The memories I have from our Black Friday’s over the years are something I will never, ever forget. Before we started these games, we used to bake all our Christmas cookies that day – another event that had us all in the same place together, with my cousins, brother, and I usually ending those days with some crazy performance we put together.
I’ve always loved that day and consider it a huge part of the holiday season. This is why I can never see myself becoming a Black Friday shopper. Why spend the day by getting up at the crack of dawn and running around the hectic mall when I could just spend it hanging out in the comfiest clothes with some of my favorite people? I have nothing against anyone who does all their shopping on Black Friday – maybe that’s your holiday tradition! I would never give up these memories or these moments for the world and I can’t imagine Thanksgiving any other way. Whoever is reading this, whatever your tradition is, I hope you get to spend it with your favorite people in the world! Happy Holidays!