Did You Survive Black Friday?
It’s Thanksgiving time.
Hurry! Gobble down the dinner some thoughtful matriarch spent days preparing. Break out the camping equipment and claim your spot on the Big Box Store parking lot.
The United States is a blessed nation in that we ever thought to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving. Proclaimed to be held on a Thursday, at a time in history when the concept of “weekend” meant little, it is one of few holidays that seems safe from the corporate need for Monday holidays.
That Thursday timing is a great opportunity. Many people don’t mind taking Friday, too. Plenty of time to celebrate with all branches of the complex American family. Enough time to join with the neighborhood. A wonderful four-day pause to show appreciation.
It is a time to count our blessings as a people: our survival of hardship, our struggles for freedom, our battles for justice and the blessings that we call prosperity and opportunity.
Oddly, it has become a time when our churches are empty and our malls are filled.
If you don’t believe in God, whom are you thanking on Thanksgiving?
Answer: the great American marketer.