Many holidays are founded on the principles of love, friendship, and family. One of the ways people like to show these qualities is by exchanging gifts. Everyone knows the feeling of scrambling to the mall in the days before the holidays, hopelessly browsing for any scraps the stores have left, praying you find the right gift for your loved one.
However, more and more often, people are opting to get the holiday shopping done months in advance. Holiday shopping has become something of an inconvenience that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. One of the main reasons this is possible, is because stores have made it so.
In fact, an increasing number of stores are having pre-Black Friday sales, including Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Sears. This means that deals will be available on the evening of Thanksgiving, as well as the days leading up to it, in addition to the day after.
“I feel like the stores are trying to get you to buy stuff, rather than the holidays being about religion, or spending time with your family,” said Junior Kelli Norkas. “Thanksgiving should be about being with your family, not shopping.”
Most of the stress of the holidays comes from finding that perfect gift. Stores have insane sales to get their customers to spend as much money as they possibly can. Black Friday has been around since the 1960s, and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. A lesser-known deal-day (although it is steadily growing in popularity) is Cyber Monday. It is characterized as the Monday following Thanksgiving, and has similar deals to Black Friday, minus the long lines and foot traffic. Instead, Cyber Monday is focused purely around online deals, on websites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Best Buy.
“I think that Cyber Monday is smart,” said Freshman Rebekkah Chen. “It helps businesses get more sales, and a lot of people don’t want to go out and deal with a hectic Black Friday. With Cyber Monday, they can do it through the computer instead, in a more pulled-back way.”
While it is convenient, the cons may outweigh the pros when it comes to holiday commercialism. An additional problem to holiday sales is the irritation of seeing decorations of holidays far precede their actual date. This could be seeing St. Patrick’s day hats in January, or Halloween decorations in August. Competition over sales can get chaotic, or out of hand.
“An example is Christmas,” said Senior Jessica Berringer. “Most of what that’s about is the presents, and the exchange of presents rather than any sort of familial or religious aspect. It’s sort of become more of a capitalist holiday than anything else.”
One thing is for sure, the little celebrations with our families that we enjoy probably won’t be going anywhere any time soon. Whether you’re decorating the tree on Christmas morning, or enjoying fireworks displays into the wee hours of the morning on New Years Eve, our little traditions are a comfort that even holiday commercialism can’t buy.
Jordyn Dees // Staff Writer
