Listen, fellow Americans. I get it. You're on a budget but you still want to shower your loved ones with gifts for Christmas. Or maybe you've been saving up all year to treat yourself to that new fancy television you've been eyeing for months and months. That's great, you deserve the best out of life, America. But you know what you also deserve? A vacation day free from the stress and commercialism that surrounds you in your day-to-day existence. You deserve a day to over-indulge on delicious food while watching football and fighting with your in-laws. You deserve Thanksgiving.
I find it ridiculous that Black Friday has become more important than the Thanksgiving holiday itself. I suppose it's been a long time coming, right? From the minute someone coined the phrase Black Friday, named such because it's purportedly the day when retailers finally get in the black, we started the long slide into honoring the day after Thanksgiving more than the holiday itself. In the past few years, Black Friday has become such a marketing ploy that it is starting to encroach on the holiday. More and more stores are opening on Thanksgiving, attempting to lure customers in with the promise of big discounts on cheaply made merchandise.
There are a couple of reasons this increasing commercialization of the holiday should anger us all. First, Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day that's all about counting your blessings and showing gratitude for what you have. If for no other reason, this is the best argument for boycotting all the Black Friday nonsense. We should band together as a society and just say no to the stores that are going to be open on Thanksgiving. Stay home and be thankful for the things you do have. This is your chance to show retailers that greed and consumerism should not be celebrated.
Another reason to boycott Black Friday - what have retailers done for you? Let's face it, retail jobs are some of the lowest paying around. Retailers like Wal-Mart have systematically stripped this country of the middle class jobs that offered upward mobility and replaced them with low wage, dead end employment that values the bottom line over the human condition. So why do you want to help line their pocketbooks?
Also, you know those "amazing deals" you're getting on Black Friday? Yeah, they're not that amazing after all. Reports have shown that retailers deeply discount their sub-par merchandise or even increase prices before the holiday to make it look like you're getting a deal.
I can hear the argument now. "But, Captain Dapper, I love shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. After all the stress of entertaining on the holiday, Black Friday is a treat to myself." OK, I get that. But if you want to shop on Black Friday, how about being mindful of where you money goes? Drop some dollars on the small businesses that have struggled during the Great Recession.
I also say that we should support and honor the stores that DO close on Thanksgiving. Businesses that treat their employees with respect, the ones that give them a paid day off to enjoy with their family, should be heralded.
OK, dear reader, I've laid out my argument for boycotting Black Friday. Thank you for letting me rant about this. Now, go enjoy your holiday. And save me a piece of pie.
MORE REASONS TO SAY FUCK BLACK FRIDAY
- Why You Should Stay Home on Black Friday on Fashionista
- It’s Black Friday, Not Thanksgiving! – Boycott Black Thursday on JaMonkey
- Black Friday Shopping Stories: The Good, The Bad & The Crazy on Huffington Post
- Real Talk: The Dark Side of Black Friday on Essence
Is nothing sacred? The holidays have slipped away from the general public and been completely bastardized by Big Business. The traditional meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas both have been diluted by mass consumerism. Read more about the War on the Holidays and American Values being waged from the trenches of Wall Street at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-war-on-thanksgiving-one-turkeys.html where one Turkey gets his revenge for encroaching on the holidays this year!
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