The War on Thanksgiving

[mtnlaurel]

Have we talked on the board yet about ALL the stores opening on Thanksgiving Day?
Really!?! The one day where we are to sit around and say 'Thank You', now we are all supposed to run out and buy a blender at 50% off and get one free because I just don't have enough STUFF.

I've always liked Thanksgiving. There are no gifts, maybe just a hair of stress involved cooking some things you only cook once a year or seeing a few annoying relatives you'd rather not be with.
But no gifts to buy. Usually no children's programs associated with it. And it's a holiday EVERYONE can enjoy - you can scream Happy Thanksgiving to your hearts content and offend no one.
Can we not just stay the heck home for one day!?

I have worked on Thanksgiving in the past, as I used to live in resort towns and have worked in plenty of restaurants.
I understand folks that have traveled across the country to ski, but for everyone to HAVE TO run out to their nearest Bed, Bath and Beyond to get 60% Off just seems like sacrilege to me.

Lots of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving were after the hoopla of the meal and just hangin' with your peeps watching a little football & cracking jokes.
So now we're supposed to bundle up Great Aunt Ida and fight the crowds to get a special deal?
"Hey, extended family, I know this is one of the few times we'll see each other this year, but I can't stay and spend time with you Grandmother and learn about our family stories because I need to run out to Kohl's to get you that much needed fragrance box set you will never use & will be giving you in 30 days" (like you don't have a month to buy that crap at another time!)

I definitely buy gifts for Christmas (and love a deal) and I like looking for little special things for people - so I'm not anti-gifts, anti-shopping (I do keep it within my reality & am not forsaking the College Fund for Santa Gift)- but it just seems so wrong (and tacky) to do it on Thanksgiving and a real interrupter for so many folks' FAMILY plans.

I know FoxNews talks a lot about the War on Christmas, so I Google'd the term 'War on Thanksgiving' to see what was out there and the whole first page were the 'Lefty' news outlets.
I thought the Right cornered the market on FAMILY issues?
So now the 2 winter holidays are polarizing events too? Oy!

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

[catherine]

Finally, a topic Fox News and I can agree on!!

It makes me so angry. It feels like a consumer cancer just taking over everything that's REALLY important.

"Hey, extended family, I know this is one of the few times we'll see each other this year, but I can't stay and spend time with you Grandmother and learn about our family stories because I need to run out to Kohl's to get you that much needed fragrance box set you will never use & will be giving you in 30 days" (like you don't have a month to buy that crap at another time!)

I love your rant, mtlaurel, and I'm with you. I got a Facebook quote that said something like "..because only in America people trample each other for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have."

My MIL worked her whole adult life for the RWDSU, the retail store workers' union. She always said that one day Macy's would open on Thanksgiving, and we were like "No...." So last year when Macy's opened at 11 pm, I actually facebooked one of my MIL's old coworkers (MIL never lived to see the travesty) and asked her what the union was doing. The union's position was that it's voluntary, so they didn't get involved. I guess from their perspective, if their workers have the opportunity to make double time and a half, they're not going to complain.

Well, I'm complaining. Last year I boycotted all the stores that opened on Thanksgiving. This year, I'll choose those that didn't. From what I understand that includes Walmart, Sam's Club, and Barnes and Noble, and I saw a TV commercial for PC Richards that specifically said that they are closing so their employees can be home for the holidays. Typically I boycott Walmart just for general purposes, so looks like at least B&N is getting my business!

ETA: I was wrong--WalMart is actually opening on Thanksgiving, so I don't have to feel too conflicted about my boycotting them after all.

[mtnlaurel]

Finally, a topic Fox News and I can agree on!!.

No, what I'm saying when I Googled 'war on Thanksgiving' the media outlets on the first page were Huffington Post, DailyBeast, Salon, NY Times.... there wasn't any Focus On the Family, FoxNews, etc.

[catherine]

Oh, I misread: You mentioned the War on Christmas and I was read War on Thanksgiving... I wonder where Fox lands on War on Thanksgiving??

[mtnlaurel]

I wonder where Fox lands on War on Thanksgiving??

Me too!

[ToomuchStuff]

No, what I'm saying when I Googled 'war on Thanksgiving' the media outlets on the first page were Huffington Post, DailyBeast, Salon, NY Times.... there wasn't any Focus On the Family, FoxNews, etc.

Why would there be? You did read where you posted this (CONSUMErism and media)? The "media" is paid for by ad's, sales, etc. Black Friday is about being 'in the black" fiscally and retailers are still hurting, so they are pushing more. Families is just a human interest story and a small one at that. (as compared to even the entertainment "news" section of the news).
Want families, spend time with them, and unplug.

[catherine]

So, I googled War on Thanksgiving Fox News and found two things:

--Their only War on Thanksgiving was a war on Obama's Thanksgiving address in which he left out a reference to God.

--Your post (this one) is on Google's second page.

[creaker]

Maybe we should push for it - instead of fighting stores open on Thanksgiving, embrace it - and tell stores you want to shop even earlier!

Eventually Black Friday would back up to the weekend before Thanksgiving and we can have a quiet holiday again.

[catherine]

Maybe we should push for it - instead of fighting stores open on Thanksgiving, embrace it - and tell stores you want to shop even earlier!

Eventually Black Friday would back up to the weekend before Thanksgiving and we can have a quiet holiday again.

Sorry, I don't think you can put the genie back in the bottle. Even if Thanksgiving was "quiet" it would still be just another holiday shopping day available to us. Next up: Christmas.

Good thinking, though.

[Rogar]

I think those of us who are into simple living just have to close our eyes to a few things this time of year in order to preserve sanity. Somewhere I saw the phrase, Christmas creep, used to describe how retail is pushing more and to expand the sales time window (and not the grump next door). The only recourse I see is to use our dollar to vote, which probably isn't going to overwhelm the masses but at least we are trying.