Soapblox is long overdue for one of my patented rants. With the holidays upon us, it was really only a matter of time before the mercury rose to fever pitch. Thanksgiving, with ever increasing speed, is becoming irrelevant, no longer the preeminent holiday where Americans give thanks for freedom and economic success, replaced instead with a “running of the bulls” sale-a-thon where Americans trample one another to save a few bucks. All this, before the turkey is even put away in the fridge.
It’s a little-known fact that the Pilgrims also had a trampling event on Thanksgiving during the Great Corn-Patch Doll Riot.
Thanksgiving used to be such a peaceful holiday. My fondest memories were of giant turkeys roasting away in the oven, all day long, while watching the Twilight Zone marathon on TV. I remember seeing family I rarely got to see, or, on some holidays, cooking with my mom in the kitchen with an assortment of elegant snacks and Martineli’s cider to hold us through till dinner. The festivities often began mid-afternoon for most gatherings, sometimes later, and the dinner was almost always a gluttonous feast of foods and an interesting array of conversation. The most violence that ever occurred was the occasional hot topic at the dinner table that would set people off. Ironically, it was rarely politics, religion or even sports that got people sour, it was often those annoying relationship woes or critical jabs that got people going. These were often rare, though they could boil over and sometimes did. In those days, and I mean up to about 5-10 years ago, there was nothing open but a 7-Eleven, so you really had no place to go if you left.
Today those memories seem as distant as a Norman Rockwell painting. Did an America even exist when stores actually closed on one of its most sacred national holidays? Sure the markets opened for a few hours on the day, often small store owners or union grocery jobs, and were adequately compensated for their time. They would always return home by the evening to get some leftover turkey and a slice of pie. Do you remember that Cosby Show episode where Claire sends Bill out to find a couple key ingredients on Thanksgiving and keeps returning throughout the show with the wrong ingredients because nothing was open? That seems entirely alien in a world where the local supermarkets are open till 9pm!
Yes, that’s what I said, 9pm. While the markets normally close midnight-1am, that is so late, one wonders what the point is. Who is going to eat Thanksgiving dinner at 10 or 11 pm? I’m sure somebody does, but dollars to donuts most of those are people who have to work till 9pm!
Another thing I’ve learned is that the union contracts in the past few negotiations have taken much of that “compensation” back from people who are forced to work on a national holiday. Today it’s little more than your duty as an employee.
However, that is nothing compared to what the non-union megastores and retail chains. While the grocery store impacts my family personally, I feel far more sorry for those making 7 bucks an hour and have to be at Target or Walmart by 7pm. Not only are they getting screwed by their employers, who are forcing them to give up their one night to eat and relax, they are being screwed by greedy consumers who confirm Walmart’s reasons to take away their employer’s freedom by showing up and even waiting in line, days in advance to turn a holiday into a pathetic excuse to go shopping.
I would rather have my holiday, thank you very much, and you won’t catch me anywhere near a damn Black Friday sale or spending my Thanksgiving waiting in line to get $50 off a damn iPad. There are stories of people waiting in line since last week! Can you believe that? Is that $50 really worth that much of your time?
Plus the stories last year of that lady who pepper-sprayed some fellow moron to get a copy of a video-game that was on sale. Do these people even know the video game will be marked down by 50% in only a half-year’s time? Is it really that important to get it for your kids that you would risk jail time? What about all those trampling events that occurred all across the country last Thanksgiving? People were acting like brides in that awful wedding sale that occurs in New York each year. Hurting each other, trampling each other, all to get a toy for their kids? Is that really the lesson you want to teach your kids?
What is wrong with these people? What the hell is wrong with this country!?
Sure the great Cabbage Patch Kid Riot that happened way back in the early 80s proved that people were capable of these sorts of idiocy decades ago. It was stupid then and it’s stupid now. Yet to disgrace our holiday for GIVING THANKS by trampling your fellow human beings for a few hunks of Chinese plastic injection molding and poorly assembled microchips is really not worth it.
It really underscores the need for a national holiday where we can all just take a deep breath and reflect on how luck our lives are. Too bad we don’t have one anymore.
To be fair, many people are doing great things this day. Some are waiting in lines too, to get food served to them by people spending their time feeding the homeless or donating turkeys for poor families. They are spending time with children in burn units or writing checks to the Red Cross to help those who lost so much in Superstorm Sandy. I am doing what I can this year, and I hope that you will too.
See below for a list of giving back options.
Until people stop acting like children and start acting like rationale and caring adults, our problems will never subside. We as a people, have to stop being led by phony bologna sales that are mostly just hype to begin with. We have to say no to extended hours that come at the expense of our fellow citizens and start putting value on the people’s lives we impact.
If we can do this, then so many problems in our country will be fixed. If are able to say no to cheap values and put a price on quality, then you could kiss cheap Chinese imports goodbye and say hello to strong American jobs. You could prove all those idiots that run the boardrooms and the CEOs of large companies that say consumers care more about saving a buck than anything else.
What I’m saying is that we need to stop being individual consumers and become Americans once more! It is WE THE PEOPLE, after all, and we are all in this together.
Lastly, as this is the holiday of giving thanks. I would like to thank you for reading and visiting my site. While the relaunch was just a few months ago, the site is back performing as it was before we left. I would also like to thank my friends, my family and my country, for I am truly grateful for all of them.
Give to the Victims of Hurricane Sandy
Please feel free to post any other acts of goodwill below in the comments.