The holiday season has officially begun, which means, “It’s the happiest season of all, there will be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow…hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near” according to Andy Williams. But for most consuming-obsessed Americans, it means it is time to hit the mall.
What was once a one day shopping ordeal, Black Friday, has now grown into a weekend long event. To retailers, Thanksgiving is now referred to as “Brown Thursday” and it marks the beginning to an exhausting and seemingly never-ending weekend of shopping deals and steals. Although this weekend provides discounts and sales to customers, making some expensive items affordable for the average middle class family, it also is creating unhealthy shopping trends.
Our new shopping habits are completely distracting us from the true meaning behind these holidays, as well as taking away from our time to appreciate family and tradition. When will consumers draw the line and choose to gather around their fireplace with good friends rather than standing outside in the freezing weather on Thanksgiving day, just to one of the first 50 in line at Walmart to be able to buy that flat screen TV that they have always wanted.
These forward statements may surprise some that know me well, for I love to shop and have always ventured into the crowded and overwhelming malls on Black Friday, but we have to practice our shopping habits in moderation. Why should we spend our entire Thanksgiving and holiday weekend in a store, when we could be reconnecting with friends, bonding with our family, and simply appreciating all of the things we already have to be grateful for?
Not to mention, our shopping habits are also affecting the holidays for people who work in retail. These employees, who are the overlooked heroes of the Thanksgiving holiday (other than our mothers who slave away in the kitchen), cannot enjoy the holiday with their family because they are being called to work by their bosses to prepare and cater to our country’s demanding shopping needs.
With our constant growing and revolutionizing society, I am afraid that it is safe to assume that these new “holiday traditions” are not changing, and in fact may get worse in the coming years. To mark the occasions, all we need now are some new Holiday songs by Beiber or JLo raving about the new products we bought and sleep we lost, all in preparation for the perfect holiday.
