Friday, November 29, 2013

Gray Thursday


“Gray Thursday?”




Stores open Thanksgiving Day? Or being cute, Thanksgiving evening?


No. No “Gray Thursday” for me, thank you.


And if you succumbed to the blandishments of retailers and left your family to shop Thanksgiving day, shame on you. I know the prices were good, and yes, there is Christmas shopping to do.


But, for pity's sake, Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays of the year that only requires you to eat (yes, I know someone has to prepare the meal) and make nice with Cousin Loser between football games. And surely there is something that happened in the previous 365 days you are thankful for. Is it too much to ask that we take a minute and just appreciate what we do have?


Instead, retailers and Madison Avenue want you to leave the table, raid the ATM or whip out a credit card, and make the bells of their cash registers ring.


Those bells don't give angels wings.


Why? I know that the holiday frenzy is the time most retailers go into the black, that it provides work for millions, and yes, you do want to give your loved ones what they want.


But guess what? What your loved ones want is you, not the latest and greatest gadget or gizmo. When you are gone what they will talk about is your dance when your team won the game, the food you cooked, or your favorite sayings. The bauble will be long in the wastebasket.


And please, don't forget the person who helped you find that thingie, or rang up your purchases. He or she had to give up their holiday so you could voluntarily trash yours.


For some “Black Friday” is a tradition, and for some it is fun to get up at 0-dark-thirty and be part of the crowd. That at least is fun (if you like that) and does not trample on one of our few unique traditions.






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