Thankful on Thanksgiving
Wow, how Thanksgiving has changed. Remember the old days when you would go to Grandma’s house on the Wednesday before Turkey Day with all of your cousins, aunts and uncles? You would wake up late Thursday morning to the smell of both bacon and turkey cooking at the same time. Then after watching football all day, you would sit elbow to elbow ready to gorge yourself with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn and don’t forget the cranberry sauce. Great memories, indeed!
So why were things so different this year?
Well, it started out with the cousins not going out to play a little football in the front yard, but instead they were playing Wii Mario Kart racing. They played all day.
About every 20 minutes, everyone except grandpa (he doesn’t have a cell phone or email account) was checking their blackberries, iphones and emails. And to top it off, most of the major retailers opened their doors to shoppers not at 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. on Friday, but at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. Yes, that’s right, they opened their doors on Thanksgiving Thursday. How ridiculous is that?
Are you supposed to leave grandma hanging while you go out and buy a new flat screen TV? I guess she can hold dessert until the late news starts.
I get it. I know that many retailers rely on Black Friday for the beginning of their holiday sales numbers and that it can account for up to 40% of their total. But seriously, Thanksgiving Day?
Let’s put things into perspective. The cost of electronics has come down considerably over the last decade. Heck, I just saw an ad for the not so latest version of the iphone for $100. I think I paid three times that amount less than six months ago. My point—prices will come down and you will be able to get it cheaper…..but be patient.
Spending time with family is special and should be cherished. What if you skipped out on dinner and went out to save one hundred bucks on that stereo system? Great. But what if one of your relatives, maybe even your favorite aunt didn’t make it next Thanksgiving? You just gave up that quality time to save a few bucks.
Unfortunately that is the direction Americans are headed….less family tradition, more technology and individualism.
So let’s step just for a moment and be gracious for all we do have. Think about the great family, friends, free country and safe environment. We owe a lot of gratitude to our troops, our police, our firemen, our government (from our forefathers), our rules, freedoms and our beliefs. All of this makes for a great country to be a part of and a great world to live in. Let’s take the time to give thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless America.
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