Location Taken: National Zoo, Washington DC
Time Taken: March 2010
Relevance to Post: They’re pheasants. People used to eat them. Still do in some places.
You know, I haven’t heard much about the War on Christmas lately. Maybe all the hysteria and hype finally died down for that. I never really cared much either way, since it was overly-paranoid and self centered religious folk on one side and politically-correctness-sans-brain on the other.
…Not that I don’t think a holiday is under attack by the retailers and politicians and whatnot, but that’s not Christmas. It’s Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Yes, even over Christmas (I dislike both giving and receiving gifts). To me, it’s a celebration of family and friendships and the joy of cooking elaborate meals. All things I highly value.
Now, though, it’s getting swallowed by the beast known as Black Friday. Not that I really understand Black Friday. I mean, sure, sales and all that, but is saving a wee bit of money really worth forcing other people to work obscene hours away from their families right after a day celebrating family, the joy of doing things slowly, and all the good aspects of life? Is such a strong contrast really necessary?
Not to mention all the other craziness that happens that you hear about on the news. I wouldn’t really know, though. I’ve never worked during Thanksgiving (…ever. Sheesh, my employment history is full of gaps…), and I dislike shopping. I very strongly dislike shopping during major sales that bring out all the extra-crazy shoppers in hordes. So I’ve never done the Black Friday thing. In fact, I try to avoid even leaving the house that day.
It seems to creep more and more into Thanksgiving Thursday each year, too. I hear story after story after story of retailers and shoppers pushing each other into earlier and earlier starting hours for The Sale. It looks like they’re no longer content with forcing employees to come in at midnight, now it’s “Alright kids, time to wrap this Thanksgiving dinner up early, Mommy has to go to work at 6pm tonight.”
Seriously. Stop it. Either that or accelerate the pace and skip over Thanksgiving entirely. Let’s do Black Wednesday instead, and give everyone (and I mean everyone) the following day off from work to recover from the insanity. Maybe you can spend that day hanging out with family and friends, maybe even spend some time cooking a nice large meal while you’re at it. Doesn’t that sound nice?
