For years and years, Black Friday was enough. Not too long ago, Thanksgiving night stuck its nose under the tent. And tomorrow, several retailers will be open regular hours, or nearly so. We seem to be on the way to Thanksgiving Day being the first day of the Christmas shopping season.
And there is outrage.
We’re losing all of our most important heritage! What has become of traditional American values? Must this relentless commercialization invade even the day itself?
I sympathize. Thanksgiving is perhaps the most family-focused holiday we have, and there’s a strong case for the decay of the family driving many of our worst problems as a society. That decay doesn’t need a further nudge.
I don’t consider it the heinous affront that many seem to, however. It used to be axiomatic that one of the very most American values was minding one’s own business. We can certainly vote with our wallets, but that ought to be the extent of it. It’s not our concern when a merchant chooses to open. It’s not our concern whether said merchant’s employees choose to remain there.
If the merchant’s behavior is profitable, then so be it. Free market forces are practically demonized anymore, but this remains a relatively pure example of how well they work.
I haven’t been out on Black Friday in years, and I certainly won’t shop on Thanksgiving Day. You want to? Go for it.
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I remembered tweeting about this. I did not remember posting on BoWilliams.com about it, which I did last year. (First entry on the related posts list.)
Second time I’ve done that.
I have never done Black Friday and never intend to partake – not because I think it’s indicative of an erosion of family values, but because large pushy crowds of people make me panic. However, I do feel bad for employees that have to sacrifice dinner with their families.
I know it’s just one day a year, but traditions are important to me. I won’t have my parents forever and want to observe these traditions with them. On the flip side, others may not be as fortunate or simply don’t think Thanksgiving is such a big deal. If they want to shop, no skin off my nose.
I have similar affection for large crowds, Cheryl. Congratulations on the South Carolina game! Wow, the ACC really took it to the SEC Saturday.
I usually stay the heck away from the stores on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but my son won’t shop for himself unless you drag him into the store, and he needed sneakers desperately. As in I could see through the toes that he was wearing white socks desperately. Friday afternoon in a half-dead mall was not unpleasant.
So Miria, is that a report from Madison Square? That would have been a great blog post. Wish I’d thought of that.