Thanksgiving is the day when our country takes time to reflect on what we’re most grateful for. It is a day full of spending time with loved ones, eating lots of food and giving thanks.
Black Friday is the day where our materialism and greed get the best of us. It is a day full of pushing and shoving, spending high amounts of money and forgetting the true meaning of the holiday season.
Since the 1960s, shoppers have rushed out the day after Thanksgiving to find the best deals on clothing, technology and more. Usually, people buy gifts for the holidays.
The premise of Black Friday is fine. I think that anyone should be allowed to spend their money the way they want, especially when there’s a good sale. However, I think that having this holiday the day after we celebrate everything we’re thankful for, couldn’t be more contradicting.
Senior Caperton Sterner says that she usually goes shopping on Black Friday. “You get so much more for your money, besides, I love to shop,” she said.
Sterner also said that she goes shopping on Thanksgiving. “The earliest I've woken up to go Black Friday shopping would be Thanksgiving night, and I didn't get home until 7 or 8 a.m. in the morning,” said Sterner.
In more recent years, we’ve seen more stores opening on Thanksgiving day. This, in my opinion, is a terrible idea.
According to History.com, when George Washington became president, he said we needed a national day devoted to giving thanks. Many other presidents, like Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt all believed it was important to take a day to reflect on the things we’re grateful for.
I don’t think any of them mentioned anything about leaving the dinner table early to get a brand new flat screen for 50 percent off.
I understand that many of the material things we would want these days didn’t even exist back then, but if Washington was still around today, I’m sure he’d be pretty upset about how materialistic and greedy we’ve made this holiday.