Imagine spending all Thanksgiving day slaving over a hot stove, the potatoes that wouldn’t mash, the turkey that wouldn’t cook, and the ham that wouldn’t glaze. But alas, everything seems to go according to plan as you finally sit down with your family to have a nice meal and be thankful for all the good things that have happened to you that year. Then, your dad says “Let’s eat fast! Black Friday shopping awaits!”
You might think this is too far fetched, but it is the reality of what we have come to in society today. Stores like Macy’s, WalMart, and JcPenney are opening their doors as early as 5:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day. What has happened to us, to our values and ideals that we have been reduced to spend a holiday, in which we are supposed to be thankful/grateful for all that we have, in line waiting to buy material objects that we don’t even need because “it’s on sale!”?
In my family, Thanksgiving is a big celebration. We cook together all day and at night when everything is ready, we sit down and we go around saying some of the things that we are grateful for having that year. Obviously, it’s not the same in every family, just like some people don’t really celebrate Christmas or Easter, but it’s a nice sentiment. So that’s why it angers me that society has turned such a beautiful holiday into something that corporations could profit from.
One could argue that this is what has become of all holidays at this day in age. Valentine’s Day is meant to “celebrate love” but really it is just a whole bunch of people spending money on flowers, cards, chocolates and hotel rooms. Christmas which (religiously) was meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus or (atheistically) meant to be spent with family has now turned into who can buy/receive the biggest most expensive presents [imagine 10 year olds with iPhone 6’s]. Easter which was (religiously) meant to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus is now just stores filling their shelves with candy and fancy clothes for the one time a year that people go to church.
So this year I am proposing this: whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas or whatever you choose to celebrate, turn off your phones. Pay attention to your loved ones. Have a talk with them. Don’t give crazy expensive gifts, make/give something from the heart (lots of ideas to try here). Write a letter to someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Don’t let these big corporations take away the true meaning of the holidays. Don’t be that crazy person that elbows an old lady in the face in order to get the last iPad on sale.
Happy Holidays, HC Cuties!