The holiday season has finally arrived! Turkey and stuffing are just around the corner. Yet yesterday in Target I was met with an aisle already bathed in red and green. Did I miss something? Thanksgiving isn't for another week and a half and already the Christmas garlands are on display in department stores. Just like every year, our commercialized society has breezed right through November, going straight from Halloween to Christmas.
Maybe that's why Thanksgiving is such a special celebration. For the most part, it has somehow managed to avoid all the hype that usually comes with holidays. There are no present exchanges, so there is no need for special sales or advertising. Nobody dresses up, so there are no aisles in Wal-Mart stuffed with Hannah Montana costumes, fake eyelashes and vampire capes. There are no Easter baskets, no sparklers, no chocolate boxes. I'm not even sure I've seen a "Happy Thanksgiving" card.
The media has a hard time attaching its usual propaganda to Thanksgiving. This holiday is about tradition, family and food. Nobody is rushing out to buy the latest fads, because on Thanksgiving you want the old-fashioned stuff: the same green-bean casserole your great aunt has been making for years, the pumpkin pie recipe your mom has perfected, grandma's stuffing that is so good you won't eat anyone else's.
On Thanksgiving, things are low key. Instead of worrying about if Jimmy and Mike got the same number of presents, or whether little Susan is actually going to wear her costume for more than five minutes this year, families spend the day coming together for a meal. If your family is like mine, the rest of the day is dedicated to watching the parades or football on TV, and possibly a really large nap. How can you commercialize that?
So instead of ruining Thanksgiving, stores put all their efforts into Black Friday, the day after feasting and the biggest shopping day of the year. As soon as our stomachs are full we are immediately pushed into Christmastime, and the commercials, sales and specials are inescapable.
Don't let Christmas infringe on your Thanksgiving time this year. Think about what the holiday really means. No, I'm not talking about the turkey. Exams and final projects are lurking in the distance, but if we sit down and write out what we have to be thankful for, a long list quickly surfaces.
Leave a comment 6 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
Great article! It really makes you think! I must say though...I've seen plenty of Thanksgiving cards.
Reply to this Top
This has been going on for years. Consumerist.com first noted it 3 years ago or more. They have people sending in pictures of Christmas decorations being put up in August.
Reply to this Top
Don’t miss the real message of thanksgiving. We’ve all heard the elementary school version of the pilgrims thanksgiving, but how many of us know the real story? When the pilgrims first settled, they organized their society with what was essentially socialism. They all shared what they grew. The result? They almost starved to death. Fortunately for them they changed their ways and each person kept what they produced (how greedy of them!). This allowed the first thanksgiving to take place. They developed a respect for private property rights and individualism, something we are getting further and further from every day. Wonder why we don’t learn about this in school?
Reply to this Top
"Think about what the holiday really means." What do you mean by this? That I should think of how our ancestors stole the land from the Native Americans, brutally murdered them, and then when they didn't have any food, took it from them? Thanksgiving is a holiday designed to let us casually ignore the atrocities of our forefathers, just like Columbus Day.
Reply to this Top
Whom exactly are you thanking?? With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we should be making out lists of what we are thankful for. But who exactly are you supposed to be thanking? If we're going to talk about the original Thanksgiving celebration lets remember that it was a celebration of thanksgiving to God for blessing them. Don't just make a list of things you're thankful for...thank GOD for them.
Reply to this Top
Yes you are right. It was God who told them to brutalize the Native Americans. They were thanking him for the blessing to brutalize them. I almost forgot.
Reply to this Top