Thanksgiving traditions have been around for hundreds of years. People love Thanksgiving because it is the time of the year when they get the chance to celebrate and be thankful for what they have. Some people love Thanksgiving because they get the work day off, they get to stay home and spend time with their family, and they get to eat big delicious meals.
But these Thanksgiving traditions are in jeopardy because people are choosing to go shopping instead of spending time with family. Stores are opting to open on Thanksgiving to optimize sales. This is drawing people away from their Thanksgiving table, and into the aisles of the stores. This is a change from years ago when stores used to stay closed on Thanksgiving and opened on Friday, or what became known as “Black Friday.” It was called this because up until that Friday, stores were losing money or “in the red.” Once Friday came along with the Thanksgiving sales, stores could then earn a profit or operate “in the black.”
When asked if she would like the option of shopping on Thanksgiving, Marlina Simmons of White Plains said, “I like the idea of having the option, but to be honest, stores are so overcrowded on the first day of sales that I tend to avoid shopping at all costs. I much prefer to spend the day with my family and shop, instead, online the following day.”
Tasbeeh Fatima of Pelham Manor agrees. She said, “I would like to have the option of grocery stores being open for a few hours on Thanksgiving, but for other types of shopping stores, they should remain closed. It would give not only my family a chance to spend time together, it would allow others to also spend time together, and time that actually matters. The decision is in my hands, and I usually choose my family over the shops. I also think that having stores open on Thanksgiving cuts back on time employees and staff in the shops have to spend with their family. Instead, it is used for working all day, which also takes away the whole point of Thanksgiving.”
On the other hand, some people look forward to Thanksgiving for a different reason. They look forward to big sales and events that allow them to get things that they want or need. Though this can help some people, the true meaning of Thanksgiving is being taken away slower and slower, year by year, and more and more people go shopping every year instead of spending quality time with family and friends.
Thanksgiving is a time of year when families should not focus on important sales going on in stores, the focus should be on spending time with loved ones and being thankful for what you have. People over time have started opening their stores on the same day of Thanksgiving which causes people to be led away from what they should be doing, which should be spending time with friends and family.
