This year, Thanksgiving is in danger of being gobbled away like a pumpkin pie by profit-hungry stores.  

Black Friday has been looming around the corner, and stores have stated that they will open at 6 P.M. on Thanksgiving day, in order to let their customers shop as soon as possible.

Now, place yourself in the shoes of a Thanksgiving Feaster.  You’ve just finished your hearty meal of sizzling turkey and hot, sticky cranberry sauce, and before you know it, you’re collapsed on the couch by the fire, sleep tugging at your eyelids.  Somehow, a strange sense of anxiety lingers in the air…

That’s right, it’s time to leave the warm depths of your home and head into the blistering cold, straight into a flourescently-lit mall to do your “Christmas Shopping”.  

This is exactly what several stores, such as Walmart, Target, and Macy’s, expect from their customers on Thanksgiving day.  What they forget is that Thanksgiving is a day set aside for gratefulness and thanks, not consumerism.  If Thanksgiving Feasters take this national holiday as an excuse to go spend more money, rather than spend time with family, what does that say about America?  It gives the world a pretense that our values consist of “scoring better deals,” as opposed to thanking our community for their generosity that they present to us in everyday life.  

Black Friday already has it’s own date and occasion.  It has no place taking over a day that goes back to the very roots of America, where people were more focused on being grateful, rather than shopping, shopping, and shopping.

If we don’t do anything to save Thanksgiving from the jaws of greedy businesses, it’s quite possible that our national holiday just might slip through our fingers.