Black Friday 2011: Is Catering to Consumerism 'Destroying' Thanksgiving?
If you want to get the best Black Friday deals, you might have to skip Thanksgiving dessert and head to stores at night. But with so many people planning to be out on Thanksgiving night, does this mean that one of the most popular shopping days of the year will lessen the importance of the holiday?
Target, Macy's and Kohl's are opening their stores at midnight on Black Friday, as opposed to 4 or 5 a.m. like stores have traditionally done in the past. Some shoppers welcome the change due to the better chances of getting the products they want.
"I love the advantage, because you don't have to go to sleep and wake up," said Nouchelle Hastings, a financial-talk-radio host and longtime Black Friday shopper, in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. "Wise people will take advantage of the Targets, the Kohl's and the other stores."
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Many shoppers are already making plans to be ready to shop as early as possible.
Sandra Chicaiza told the Sentinel be prepared at "11:30, maybe 11, because I'm telling you, they're going to be making some lines. "Chicaiza noted that she will be in search of tablets and other electronics on Thanksgiving night.
Nonetheless, with many people planning on getting out into the shopping frenzy as early as possible, some are sticking to the traditional Thanksgiving ritual of family and food.
Teri Maddox refuses to go out on Thanksgiving Day.
"I'm usually cooking," she told the Sentinel.
Despite some people staying home on Thanksgiving as opposed to searching for Black Friday deals, some still point to one of the biggest shopping days of the year as evidence that America has become morally corrupt and ignorant to more important issues facing society today.
A Youtube video that severely criticizes Black Friday says: "As the dollar loses status as the world's reserve currency, as mystery missiles launch just off our shores, as North and South Korea take the world to the brink of war, as the TSA violates all measures of liberty and constitutional rights, and as the U.S. military itself prepares for the coming, total economic collapse and breakdown of civil order, this is what Americans care about..."
The video then fades into a view of hundreds of seemingly crazed shoppers running over each other to be the first ones into a big-box retail store and grab products off shelves.
"Wanton, lustful commercialism," the video continues, "acting like animals fighting over trinkets made by human beings for slave wages."
Despite the varying opinions of Black Friday, this year's event is expected to be extremely popular.
