Blog

I know the holiday of Thanksgiving has its origins in colonial activities with a dubious morality at best. I know it’s not a holiday celebrated world-wide, nor is it religious. Be that as it may, it’s a holiday that’s come to have a meaning that transcends its origins and the demands of a belief system.

I had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at the home of a friend of mine. Afterwards, we went out to see a late movie (Thor: The Dark World; nice superhero action film) and didn’t get out of the theater until after midnight.

The mall was crowded. Many stores were open. There was a long line in front of the Gamestop. According to a sign, JC Penney had opened at 8PM would remain open until midnight on Friday night. There were restaurants open as well, to feed the people standing on line and looking for sales.

It’s bad enough that we start seeing Christmas sales as early as Labor Day. Thursday was supposed to be a day that’s an acknowledgement of the good we’ve received and connections we have with others. Now we see it distorted into an excess of mass consumerism.

I don’t blame the stores, though my heart goes out to all those employees forced to work those outrageous shifts on a holiday. I blame all those who made use of those sales to save a few bucks. Corporate America goes where the money is.

And now we have “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” names which have been acquired due to the practices of consumers and vendors on those days following Thanksgiving.

I have an idea. Why don’t we have a sale only for those who don’t commit acts of violence? Or who can demonstrate that they’ve never posted a racist/sexist/homophobic comment on the internet?

If people are willing to sacrifice anything for money, can’t we get them to sacrifice bigotry and hatred instead of family?