Giving…..

I have always said that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. When people ask me why, it’s easy for me to respond. I get to spend time with people I love – my family, eat great food and don’t have to worry about buying presents or being anywhere other than at home with people I love and who love me. Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy Thanksgiving and want to truly reflect on the meaning of giving thanks, it is difficult to do so since retailers keep pushing Christmas shopping season. This year I saw Christmas decorations and advertisements even before Halloween. How can children, adults and the community in general even enjoy and celebrate one holiday when they lump so many of them together.
It seems that in recent years the Black Friday phenomena, has grown to out of control proportions. Everyone loves a bargain but can you honestly tell me that there is a good reason to lose all control of human decency to save a few bucks? Some may think that I am being extreme when I say we lose our human decency during this made up, retail driven, gluttonous event – Black Friday. I however beg to differ.
Case in point: a shopper armed herself with pepper spray and proceeded to spray her preferred areas in the store to drive other customers away from there and give her an opportunity to have first choice; a shopper with heart problems fell and was having obvious problems, other shoppers stepped over him in search of the bargains – a nurse and paramedic were shopping and stopped to administer CPR but were too late and the man later died; customers were camping out in front of an electronic store a week early and unscrupulous characters who figured these campers had money moved to rob them and were it not for the fact that a television crew was there to interview said campers at that precise moment they would have been assaulted at knife point. The stories go on and on and people don’t even think twice when they learn that yet another person – a human being gave his life in pursuit of cheap throw away items. Yes items that will have a short life span, may be abandoned by the recipient come February and will eventually become part of a landfill.
When did Christmas become about the latest electronic gadget and not about the birth of Christ. I wonder how many of the people lined up at the Wal-Marts across the country even know what Christmas really means or if they would line up to attend Christmas mass with the same enthusiasm and zeal. Now Thanksgiving is becoming a day to prepare for Black Friday rather than a day of reflection and gratitude that has great meaning to our young country. The phrase said in a baseball movie and often repeated is “If you build it they will come.” Retailers now open their businesses on Thanksgiving Day – how can they lose a day of business. They don’t care that their employees have families and black Friday preparation denies them the opportunity to be with their families.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza or nothing this season, you can always focus on those you love. I urge you to remember that materials items will break, be lost or forgotten. What won’t be forgotten will be the memories, the love and how you made others feel. Make an effort to make someone feel special and loved that is the best present you can give anyone.