Black Thursday - because nothing say's "I'm thankful!" better than a shopping spree!

by Jacob.jose - wikimedia commons

The Holiday Shopping Season kicks off with a shopping holiday billed with the misleading misnomer: Black Friday.  In actuality the holiday begins on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day itself!  Retailers have succeeded in switching places with grandma and grandpa and have officially become the hosts of Thanksgiving gatherings countrywide. Thanksgiving it is a-changing!

Consumer-centric traditions have taken the focus off family, food and football and a lot of folks now celebrate the 'feast' day standing in long lines and giving thanks for bargains and sales.  We should have seen it coming - the writing's been on the wall (and in the ads) for sometime now. It might be better to give than to receive...but today, buying is best of all!

With the bottom-line of all things American being the Almighty Dollar, our national day of gratitude is going through an identity crisis: Pilgrims or profit-margins?  We complain...but we buy right into the commercialization of our holidays.  Sales mark every celebration and the talking points for planning lead with purchasing power.  There is no holiday too sacred, solemn or silly that it cannot be exploited in the marketplace.  Santa is at the mall., with the Easter Bunny, Halloween goblins and yes...Pilgrims.

The first Thanksgiving can be traced back to a three day feast shared by the Wampanoag Native American Indians and the Plymouth Pilgrim's after a bountiful harvest, in 1621.  In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26th  a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens", making it a national holiday.  Through the years this has been a day for family and friends to come together, share a meal and give thanks.  Until now.

by: Ben Franske, Wikimedia commons

Big Box Merchandisers are trying to change this very American tradition.  In their vision families battle crowds for marked down inventory and then meet at the food court.  The ka-ching of opening cash register drawers drowns out the musical clink of glassware tapped in toasts.  And the only blessings worth counting are the dollar-signs.

But I'm not giving up my Thanksgiving Day Feast without a fight!  They'll have to pry that turkey leg from my cold, dead hands!  We Houston's are gonna keep celebrating the old fashioned way, with the Macy's Parade, "Alice's Restaurant", my grandmothers bannock (a type of bread) and each other.  The sales can wait.