Holy cow. After a long day of family, games, turkey, and stuffing faces, thanks were given all around. But when family members dispersed and the leftovers wrapped, I worriedly said goodbye to my mother as she ventured off into the dark night...
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, grateful spirits remain only as a faint ring... an echoed tinge of complacency that is viciously trampled by thousands of eager buyers. All sleeplessly shoving their way through shop doors at the scent of savings, I found myself baffled in the midst. But words barely grasp the amount of adrenaline and exhaustion felt during the overwhelming conditions of Black Friday.
While watching TV with my grandmother only a few days before, a commercial trivia question popped up in between our regularly scheduled programming: "In what city did the term 'Black Friday' originate?" ....A. Boston, B. New York, or C. Philadelphia? The answer is C. The term was coined by the heavy amount of pedestrians and traffic in the streets as citizens stormed the stores for sales.
What's most interesting about this event is the hypocrisy that blankets the thankful holiday spirit. I think a viral image on Facebook actually explains these sentiments rather well... "Black Friday: Because only in America, people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have." Now, I didn't feel I could fully agree with this until I experienced the event myself.
At midnight, my boyfriend and I, both avid anti-shoppers, found ourselves in the crowded cacophony of the Fox Run mall. In curiousity we travelled from one end to the other, but the most surprising aspect wasn't the amount of people but the types. Instead of middle-aged mothers gathering for cheap toys, the mall was clustered with teenage boys and girls looking for deals on Hollister clothing and video games. I think this is one of the more worrying aspects. Instead of passing down traditions of thanksgiving... are our youth ideals being replaced with consumerist cravings? Maybe that's too bold.... but I think the hypocrisy deserves a glance.
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