So thanks to social media, "movements" tend to go viral very quickly. Over the last couple weeks, "I hate Black Friday" posts were rampant in my newsfeed. In all fairness, they were more like "I hate that Black Friday starts on Thanksgiving" posts, but still, the point is the same.
I see a lot of people raging against the retailers for daring to be open on Thanksgiving when people should be with their families. Here's my thought: So what? Retailers will be open because that's what they do: Sell things. Nobody is forcing anyone to go shopping. If someone wants to go shopping instead of eating with his family, so what? That doesn't have anything to do with you. Maybe some people don't have families. Maybe some people don't like their families. Maybe some people don't celebrate Thanksgiving.
Maybe not everyone is going just to get "stuff" because we are a greedy culture. Maybe some people are going because money is tight and they want to be able to get gifts for their kids but stay on a budget.
Maybe some people eat Thanksgiving food (that's what my 3 year old calls it) at 1:00, like we do, so they have the rest of the day to with as they please. Maybe they all go shopping as a family ("Here's your half of the list, I'll take mine and meet you at the Starbucks in an hour! God Speed!")
My only problem with Black Friday is that it seems to turn some people into monsters and I really think that some of these extreme cases they show on the news should be ashamed of themselves..
The point is, I often hear the argument that people go because the retailers are open. I beg to differ. The retailers are open because people go. And everyone needs to get off their "Thanksgiving is magical family time" high horse and let it go if it doesn't affect them.
/rant over
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