Are Americans too crazy for Black Friday?
In 2008, a woman was trampled at Walmart and killed by Black Friday shoppers. BlackFridayDeathCount.com has a list of seven deaths and 98 injuries that have happened on Black Friday in the United States from 2006 to 2014.
Rather than backing off on Black Friday sales, stores now start their sales on Thursday –
also known as Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is meant to be a day spent with family eating copious amounts of turkey and being thankful for the harvest of the year before. Instead, we are using it to get good deals on Christmas presents.
Christmas is taking over the month of November already with Christmas music starting to play in stores Nov. 1.
The sad thing about it is that it’s making people forget what Christmas is all about. Christmas is another holiday that is supposed to be about family and it’s been made into a holiday that’s all about gifts.
Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving is just the tip of the iceberg. Even if stores open at midnight, it still screws Thanksgiving Day up for those who have to be at work then.
They need their sleep before they go in and work their shift so they would be sleeping through a normal dinnertime. That means that their Thanksgiving is messed up.
Having sales start on Thursday isn’t just ruining Thanksgiving for people who have to work though.
People are actually moving when they have dinner or not having Thanksgiving at all because they want to do their shopping instead.
Some states, stores and malls are pushing back against the new trend. Mall of America doesn’t open until 5 a.m. on Black Friday. Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island have made it illegal for stores to be open on Thanksgiving.
If states are making it against the law, clearly something is wrong. Also, the biggest mall in the United States has decided they will stay closed to make sure people who work there have time with their families.
That’s what the holidays are supposed to be about. We shouldn’t be so focused on buying the perfect gift for someone we can’t spend any time with. It defeats the purpose because it doesn’t seem like you care about people if you have to spend all your time shopping that should be spent with them.
This time of year, we all need to remember to slow down and spend time with those we love because that’s what will make people know we care, not the cashmere sweater you got them for $20 at Macy’s on Thanksgiving because you were too cheap to wait and pay full price.
More Stories
Letters From London: Bulletin from Belfast
I spent Saint Patrick’s Day in Belfast, Ireland. A good friend of mine, Reilly Tennis, a VTSU student, is studying in Northern Ireland at Ulster University in a town called Coleraine. Sya Barnes, another VTSU student and good friend, is studying at Essex University in Colchester, England, so we decided to meet Reilly in Belfast […]
These worms aren’t good for your soil
As you read this article, there might be a destructive species of worm crawling silently underneath your feet. The Green Mountain state’s soil is being severely threatened by a species of worm that sounds like it should be in a children’s cartoon. The reason why they are called Jumping Worms is because they have a […]
Your life depends on it
I’m never growing up. I’m now a poser in a punk rock sense. When, or if, I go to a show, I stand in the back by the bathrooms. I leave the pit to the younger, more virile people. My back hurts too much for that shit. Honestly, I never trusted anyone over 30. When […]
Time for U.S. to educate and work together
We all know how news in mainstream media tends to be biased in how it is delivered to the public. But, are enough of us aware of just how much information is lost on the citizens, especially in rural areas. Many people tend to live in their own bubbles and ignore the rest of the […]
The ethics of “The Bridge”
The goal of professor David Blow’s Media Ethics course is to have greater understanding of the various ethical dilemmas that media workers deal with on a daily basis and the implications of their decisions. One assignment in this class was to watch a documentary titled “The Bridge,” produced by Eric Steel, and react to what […]
Cutting off my nose to spite my face
Spite is a powerful tool. The majority of the time, if I do anything, it is out of spite. Tell me I cannot do something and bam, I will do it just to watch you suffer. I got into standup comedy after someone once told me I wasn’t funny. I then performed a show with […]