"Number one authority on nothing"
Matthew Nash
Contact Matt at mnash@sequimgazette.com
Matthew Nash hails from Portland, Ore., and stumbled into writing for newspapers when his high school allowed him to write movie reviews. Nash is married to a kindergarten teacher. They have one child together who is named after two superheroes.
Charred turkey: Night of the Living Shoppers
Published on Mon, Nov 28, 2011Read More Nash
Definition one: the act of giving thanks
“Shoppers step over (man) as he collapses, dies.”
Definition two: a prayer expressing gratitude
“Black Thursday replaces Black Friday.”
Definition three: public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness
“Woman pepper sprays crowd.”
Thanksgiving defined: a day appointed for giving thanks for divine goodness.
“Shoppers go crazy on Black Friday.”
Thanksgiving defined again: the fourth Thursday in November observed as a legal holiday in the United States.
So for a few hours, Black Friday and Christmas didn’t invade Thanksgiving. People ate together, played games and watched football.
But it was like the Macy’s Day Parade, where for a few hours everything is untainted until Santa Claus makes an appearance. He’s the reminder that we better get our checkbooks ready.
This year, stores opened their doors even earlier with Thanksgiving Day openings to bring in early shoppers.
My fear is that people who claim that they are in line to buy items for family have neglected those same loved ones on Thanksgiving to buy microwaves, slippers and video games.
Friends and family said that stores weren’t as busy in the morning because so many people got in line earlier than before. If you ask me, 2 a.m. is never convenient.
Regardless, retailers are recording high sales nationwide for Black Friday.
What’s different? Do people like shopping after eating? Or are the deals that good?
As many people on the scene of the pepper spray incident said afterward, “It wasn’t worth waiting in line.”
These extreme examples should lead retailers to leave Thanksgiving Day alone.
People should eat, drink and be merry on Thanksgiving. There are plenty of days to buy products.
Besides, the day after Christmas is fairly busy with returns. If Thanksgiving is taken over, maybe we can claim Dec. 26 as another new holiday, along with Boxing Day and Kwanzaa.
We can gather together and talk about the gifts we didn’t like or need, such as the knitted sweatshirts and fruitcake and whatnot.
Right now, enough people are experiencing buyer’s remorse after Black Friday, so why not celebrate it?
