Giving thanks or spending money

With the holiday season in full swing, there are

many annual activities that come right along: families

decorating the tree, making Christmas cookies, watching

Christmas movies and lots and lots of shopping. But when

should the shopping begin? That is the question. Each

year, Black Friday shopping inches closer and closer to becoming Black Thursday shopping. This year, Thanksgiving has officially been breached with several stores like Target and Walmart opening at midnight

or 10 p.m. on Thursday night. A day of giving thanks and enjoying time with family is becoming a day of stressed out shopping, clipping coupons and fighting for the latest electronics.Before we know it, we will all be shoveling food in our mouths before the turkey is even done and running out early on Thanksgiving to go shopping. I enjoy a good early morning shopping spree on Black Friday instead of Black Thanksgiving for a reason. Shopping and saving

money are great things when in the right setting, but not when they encroach on the holidays. Occurrences like these are the things that desensitize us to important holidays, spending time with family and giving thanks for

the things we have. Instead, our minds are set on getting the best deals, waiting in lines and buying Christmas presents. I am not advocating that we all dress as pilgrims and Indians and remember the Mayflower, but we should focus on what is important: being with family for the holidays. However, this is impossible when Black Friday

is becoming Black Thanksgiving and Black Week.

Stores open earlier and earlier each year to draw

in more customers, but in reality, no more money is

spent at midnight than at seven in the morning. The only thing spent is the time that could have been with family, rubbing your belly after supper and watching some football, for both the employees and shoppers at the stores. In

all, Black Friday has a place—on Friday. Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season and how can we start it off right if we are only concerned with which stores have the

best sales and what store to go to first? While Black

Friday is a tradition, how valuable is it when it starts

to take away the traditions of Thanksgiving as well? As the holidays near closer and closer, we should all try and remember the important things like family, the shopping bags can wait.