The holidays are a time for people to be with their families and enjoy each other’s company. They are a time for a break from the rest of the days that we spend working tirelessly throughout the year. When did it become a good idea to encroach on those holiday traditions and make it less than what it is?
Black Friday has been getting earlier and earlier. This year, not even a minute after the clock struck midnight after Thanksgiving evening, some stores opened in hopes to make the most of the holiday rush.
This left the workers of these stores trying to get some sleep for the long, busy night ahead of them on Thanksgiving rather than celebrating with the family they love.
What has become of our holiday traditions where giving thanks became second place to the act of mass purchasing for low prices and fighting in lines that wrap around the store?
Not only is there the issue of Black Friday crawling into Thanksgiving, but all of Christmas in general has been taken from its simpler days and turned into an all out merchandising war. While looking for Halloween decorations, shoppers could look for their tree-top angel. Isn’t it a little overkill when we start to celebrate a holiday three months before its time?
It is true that Christmas is one of the biggest times for shoppers and businesses to get together to make great deals, but should it become such a fiasco that even the holidays themselves start to be affected?
Maybe we can blame the shoddy economy for our holiday crazies, since merchandisers are striving to get shoppers to spend every penny they can during the holidays, but where should the line be drawn?
When it comes to the extent where people are run over in the rush to the doors the moment a store opens on Black Friday and when that rush starts at the earliest moment, it should be considered a step too far.
Maybe instead of buying mountains of gifts for those we love, we should show our affection by merely taking the time to be together, to talk and do the things that seem to be lost in the fast-paced, technological society of today.
Children don’t necessarily need, or want, mountains of toys. Having everything they could possibly ask for can make a child spoiled or ungrateful, but having a mom, dad, brother, sister or other family member there who cares and takes time with them can mean the world on the holidays.
These are the times to make memories that will last even after the toys are worn out and old. It is the memories tied to objects that hold sentimentality, not merely the object itself.
Money, toys, presents…we need to remember that all of these things are second place to the people that really matter most in our lives. There will only be so many Christmases to celebrate together, so let’s all try to remember what should be the priority as we head into the holiday season. Let’s be sure to celebrate while being thankful for those who are most important in our lives.
