Thanksgiving Deserves to Be Celebrated

Early Black Friday sales get in the way of giving Thanksgiving the celebration it deserves

By Annie Moore

, Family Member of Employees Working on Thanksgiving

November 21, 2012

About Annie Moore:

Annie Moore is a family member of employees who will have to work on Thanksgiving.

Christmas sales start too early. Each holiday needs to have its time of celebration. Thanksgiving is easy for retailers to overlook because it does not bring in huge sales. Sales are important; however, in an increasingly independent world with me-me-me attitudes sadly, thankfulness goes by the wayside with this outlook.

Americans would benefit greatly with more time with people, namely family and friends. Thanksgiving is one day that allows such gatherings. If citizens allow retailers to infringe on this American holiday, celebrated since colonial times, this nation loses its last grasp on tradition.

With the vast amount of items available by endless retailers the need for early Christmas sales is moot. If, however, retailers want to have early sales they are welcome to do so just not on Thanksgiving Day. Let us have our family time and start Black Friday sale at 6:00 a.m. when the well-rested and invigorated shoppers who enjoyed a good meal with people they love will spend their hard-earned dollars with reckless abandon. Thanksgiving time is from November 1 through Thanksgiving Thursday and Christmas begins the day after.

Retailers can count themselves lucky that we do not still celebrate Thanksgiving for three days. In the 1600s it was not easy to travel the ocean for 66 days as one of 100 passengers treated as cargo. However, because they did so we have tremendous cause for celebration. The celebration needs to continue without interruption by commerce squeezing the Christmas shoppers.

I will leave my opinions about Christmas for another time.