Thanksgiving traditions vary, even across campus
Thanksgiving has been a classic American holiday my family participates in for as long as I can remember.
Every year my mom’s family and ours gather together for a family dinner. Whether that’s at my family’s, my aunt’s or my grandma’s house, we always celebrate the holiday together. The women in my family prepare a delicious dinner while the men run errands or watch a rerun of a soccer game.
The yearly celebration has become a symbol of family and togetherness because it’s the one day of the year where everyone seems to be able to get together. It’s also a very stressful time as it can be when everyone in the family seems to want to know how each others’ lives are panning out.
Even though I love my family’s Thanksgiving traditions, they’re not as common as those of other people that celebrate the holiday. The popular turkey isn’t always at our dinner table. In fact, there are quite a few traditions I would like to enlist for my upcoming Thanksgiving celebration that are found in an article on the Huffington Post that others might enjoy as well.
One of the biggest events associated with Thanksgiving is Black Friday. After working four years in retail at a mall where many people would go for their annual holiday shopping spree, there might be some bias.
I was never very fond of the concept of Black Friday to begin with. This became much more evident after I started working the day of Thanksgiving and into Black Friday to accommodate the demand for earlier Black Friday hours. Luckily, some stores have began to brand themselves against the Thanksgiving sale hours, but the extreme commercialism and often selfish hunts for the best deals seem very contrary to the spirit of the holiday season.
Despite Black Friday in itself seeming to contradict the whole premise of Thanksgiving, it’s ironically situated the day right after. It’s interesting that many, including my family, will give thanks for everything they have at dinner time on Thursday night but then suit up to go shopping for more only because sales are crazier than they would be on a regular day.
Much of Thanksgiving and Black Friday seems to center on preparing for Christmas. Many people that have their Christmas shopping list, or at least a budget, will go shopping on Black Friday.
Ashley Fritz, a junior at USD who will also be celebrating Thanksgiving this year, said She there’s several different aspects of Thanksgiving she enjoys.
“My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the food and watching football. I also enjoy Black Friday shopping because I love the amazing deals,” she said.
Fritz is just one of the many students celebrating Thanksgiving with their family this year. I look forward to spending a fun, food-filled Thanksgiving this year and a great little break from thinking about finals. Hopefully everyone gets a chance to partake in the wonderful celebration of everything that each of us have because everybody has something that they can be appreciative for.
