The political season is over. Now it’s time for a break. The weather is getting colder and the nights are getting longer. This time of year is steeped in tradition. Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner. We look forward to Thursday and a sumptuous turkey dinner and football and family and then the Christmas rush begins in earnest. This year Thanksgiving is at its earliest date making the Christmas season a full four and half weeks. It’s going to be a long haul. I am looking for after Christmas sales already.
Lost in the stories about the fiscal cliff and Mideast violence are retailers pushing the envelope once again as they attempt to push Black Friday into Thanksgiving night. I am actually a Black Friday fan. When my son was smaller we used to get up at 5:00 AM to be at the electronics stores when they opened at 6. Then we had to get up at 4 to be there when they opened at 5. Then they made the quantum leap to open at midnight and I said to hell with it and slept in. But this year they have crossed the line. Several of the big box stores have decided to open at 9:00 PM…and then others tried to outdo them by opening at 8 on Thanksgiving night.
I am a free enterprise kind of guy. But enough is enough. I listened to these jackasses boohoo about how tough business is right now. Do they really think that 3 extra hours on Thanksgiving night is going to make a difference to their bottom line? Do they really really think that? They very self righteously say that they don’t force their employees to work on Thanksgiving. It’s voluntary, they say. We have people lining up to work, they say. Really?
I remember years ago when Kmart tried to stay open on Thanksgiving morning. I went there to get out of the house while my wife and crazy mother and crazy aunts cooked. Kmart had a cafeteria at the time, so I bought a piece of pie and cup of coffee. When I went to pay the bill, the waitress looked at me and said it was because of people like me she had to work on Thanksgiving. Her kids would not have a Thanksgiving Day dinner because she could either work or cook. The boss said she had to work. I left her a big tip and slinked away.
America has always had great traditions. Unfortunately as our society has secularized, what’s left are the shells of the traditions. The guts have been eliminated. Thanksgiving Day is for thanks. Now it is for football and shopping. Christmas celebrated the birth of Christ. Now we are obliged to leave the religion out in the cold. It is all Santa and presents and parties. Watch the Christmas movies and the birth of Christ is all but ignored except when a sappy ending is needed and town folks sing Silent Night in the town square…fine for the movies but would result in a lawsuit by the ACLU if it really happened.
It’s like watching all of the Say Yes to the Dress bridal shows. Out comes the white dress and the big wedding…and the bride either has kids already, has lived with the guy for three years, or is pregnant. And the white dress tradition lingers because…..
This year I am going to try to lose at least some of the trappings of the holiday and concentrate on restoring part of the guts. Shell holidays look good, but I think I want something more at the core than a holiday running on empty. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and don't forget to thank God for your blessings.
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