I went through Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) on Nov. 12. The place had a distinctive Christmas feel. Garlands, trees and ornaments decorated the ceilings and walls. Back in the States, grocery stores had replaced bags of candy corn with red and green M&Ms . . . .
Thanksgiving has never had the commercial appeal of Halloween and certainly cannot compete with Christmas. Increasingly, Thanksgiving has been rebranded by media and merchants as the eve of Black Friday!
“Black Friday Madness Sweeps Across the Country” – NPR
“Black Friday Shoppers Fan Out in the Night” – New York Times
“Earlier Black Friday Openings Draw Crowds” – Wall Street Journal
With these headlines and images of people waiting in long lines, the rest of us undergo a guilt trip. Everyone is out shopping. Maybe we should be too.
Thanksgiving has been holiday of intense travel so people could spend time with families. But merchants are trying to ensure 100 percent participation. That even the Occupy groups give up their protest for 24 hours.
The new opening hours (some at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving evening) enable people can get up from the family dinner, wave bye to all the aunts and uncles they haven’t seen for the past year and now travel to the shopping center to join the lines forming for that flat-screen TV or Blu-Ray Player.
This year, Black Friday started on what has been traditionally known as Thanksgiving Thursday. For those who missed out on this event, Cyber Monday is starting early too. . . .
