Rebel the new modern culture of unnecessary shopping on Thanksgiving to keep the family unit strong.
By: Nicholas Ventrone, Community Engagement Director
If you follow and read this blog regularly, you know that one of the reasons why several areas of the Inland Empire are plagued in crime and social issues is due to the collapse of the traditional family structure. The culture has been attacking the family unit from all sides and is not looking for the best of us. Now, this modern trend of materialism is attacking a huge family day on the calendar; that is Thanksgiving Day.
I won't go into the details regarding its history but Thanksgiving has long been an important holiday for the family where its members travel long distances to see each other, share their stories, do fun activities together, and share a delicious meal. Such gatherings allow families to become stronger units. Strengthening the family unit is absolutely necessary to bring out the best of people and combat the social problems in Southern California.
Two Deals for Black Friday 2014...or Thanksgiving.
Enter in Black Friday, historically the busiest shopping day of the year where retailers compete for floods of shoppers by offering the sharpest deals on products. After the Thanksgiving feast, deal-seekers would go to bed, wake up very early on Friday morning, line up in front of a major retailer and shop. Wal-Mart for example, is offering a 65 inch television for $648 as a door-buster deal this year as well as an Xbox One Console with the newest Halo game and a $30 gift card for $329. But that deal is not taking place early morning Friday. It is not happening at midnight. The deal starts at 6:00PM Thanksgiving night! Availability not guaranteed after 7:00PM.
Rebel against Black Thursday...Stay with the family on Thanksgiving.
The culture of materialism is in full swing and is attacking this important night which forces many in the retail sector to work in the name of materialism. In fact, the disgrace has gotten so bad that some big name major retailers including Costco, Nordstrom, and Barnes and Noble have rightly elected to turn away from this new form of the modern culture's materialistic ways. Some retailers who operate in shopping malls that require them to be open on Thanksgiving are playing their righteous cards by taking the heavy penalties and fines by remaining closed on Thanksgiving and not allowing unjustified policies into forcing them to operate. One mid-size retail business which operates electronics and department stores on the east coast which also has an online store posted this "Save Thanksgiving" memo on its website:
As the retailer pointed out and to be fair, there has to be some sectors that need to operate 365 days per year like hospitals, emergency services, defense, drug stores, and other essential entities; this includes some places in the retail sector, but offering 65 inch televisions for $648 and bonus add-on's to a video game console to lure people into a store on Thanksgiving night is not a legit reason to force massive amounts of retail employees to work or cut family time short for the holiday. Plus the environment and traffic conditions at these retailers is absolutely chaotic.
Sadly, many good people have bought into this madness as there are some who are even willing to camp for days at a time through the holiday to cash in on a deal. Look no further than Best Buy.
In fact, according to a National Retail Federation survey, of those consumers who have or will go shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday times, 31.8 percent said they planned to go shopping on Thursday.
It's beyond belief of what our materialistic culture has done to this family holiday.
Fortunately, the retail marketplace has good competition and it will take the knowledge and patience of efficient buying and searching to get around this madness and still get a great deal on products.
If we can break this damaging cultural trend by spending Thanksgiving with the family and not shopping, more of our retail workers can also be at home.
Alternative Deals that allow you to stay with the Family
Sales and tremendous deals can be found all the time both in store and on the web all throughout the marketplace. Think about it. Are the trade-off's really worth it on Thanksgiving night? If you really need to have that big screen television for under $700 or an Xbox One for under $360, know that there are similar deals out in the marketplace that don't require you to go to a crowded and traffic-choked Wal-Mart in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner.
At the time of this post, TigerDirect had a listing on eBay for a new 60 inch Seiki HDTV for $600 with free shipping. If I had to replace the big screen TV in the family room, I'd sacrifice the 5 inches of screen space and the "Smart" features, take 5 minutes to order the TV online, and stay with the family this Thanksgiving. As for the Xbox One, I'd sacrifice an extra $20, the gift card and the new Halo video game in exchange to attend my family's Thanksgiving event. Toys R Us online has one for $350 plus $6 shipping at the time of this post. Again, about 5 minutes to order one plus the 10-15 minutes to locate the deal on the net.
Plus, with the web, those alternative deals mean spending Black Friday and the rest of the four day weekend with the family too and away from the crowded stores.
Transportation Tip: Stay with the family on Thanksgiving for the entire day and evening and consider doing that for the entire four-day weekend. Enjoy the social time, play with the children, and enjoy the dinner feast. If you are forced to work on Thanksgiving day, schedule in a full uninterrupted 24 hour period with the rest of the family on another day.
Don't trade off your whole Thanksgiving night for 5 inches, $20, a free video game, or a gift card. Those precious family moments are priceless and not worth any material trade-off. Enjoy the holiday so you can keep your relationships and communities strong. We believe stronger families builds up stronger communities and keeps children out of the criminal culture. Visit the Boycott Black Thursday Facebook page and pledge not to shop for unnecessary gifts on Thanksgiving. Shopping on Thanksgiving night means other people are forced to work.
Allow retail workers the opportunity to celebrate this family holiday too.
By: Nicholas Ventrone, Community Engagement Director
riversidetransit@gmail.com
If you follow and read this blog regularly, you know that one of the reasons why several areas of the Inland Empire are plagued in crime and social issues is due to the collapse of the traditional family structure. The culture has been attacking the family unit from all sides and is not looking for the best of us. Now, this modern trend of materialism is attacking a huge family day on the calendar; that is Thanksgiving Day.
I won't go into the details regarding its history but Thanksgiving has long been an important holiday for the family where its members travel long distances to see each other, share their stories, do fun activities together, and share a delicious meal. Such gatherings allow families to become stronger units. Strengthening the family unit is absolutely necessary to bring out the best of people and combat the social problems in Southern California.
Enter in Black Friday, historically the busiest shopping day of the year where retailers compete for floods of shoppers by offering the sharpest deals on products. After the Thanksgiving feast, deal-seekers would go to bed, wake up very early on Friday morning, line up in front of a major retailer and shop. Wal-Mart for example, is offering a 65 inch television for $648 as a door-buster deal this year as well as an Xbox One Console with the newest Halo game and a $30 gift card for $329. But that deal is not taking place early morning Friday. It is not happening at midnight. The deal starts at 6:00PM Thanksgiving night! Availability not guaranteed after 7:00PM.
Rebel against Black Thursday...Stay with the family on Thanksgiving.
The culture of materialism is in full swing and is attacking this important night which forces many in the retail sector to work in the name of materialism. In fact, the disgrace has gotten so bad that some big name major retailers including Costco, Nordstrom, and Barnes and Noble have rightly elected to turn away from this new form of the modern culture's materialistic ways. Some retailers who operate in shopping malls that require them to be open on Thanksgiving are playing their righteous cards by taking the heavy penalties and fines by remaining closed on Thanksgiving and not allowing unjustified policies into forcing them to operate. One mid-size retail business which operates electronics and department stores on the east coast which also has an online store posted this "Save Thanksgiving" memo on its website:
Our 2,849 employees wish you a very healthy, Happy Thanksgiving... A Day for the Celebration of Families, Friends, and Loved Ones.
It is our opinion that retailers who choose to open on Thanksgiving show no respect to their employees and families, and are in total disrespect of family values in the United States of America.
KEEP FAMILY FIRST
Honor Thanksgiving Day...A True American Holiday!
We appreciate those who provide us essential services on Thanksgiving Day. A special thanks to the service men and women who protect our freedom each and every day.
-P.C. Richard & Son
It is our opinion that retailers who choose to open on Thanksgiving show no respect to their employees and families, and are in total disrespect of family values in the United States of America.
KEEP FAMILY FIRST
Honor Thanksgiving Day...A True American Holiday!
We appreciate those who provide us essential services on Thanksgiving Day. A special thanks to the service men and women who protect our freedom each and every day.
-P.C. Richard & Son
Sadly, many good people have bought into this madness as there are some who are even willing to camp for days at a time through the holiday to cash in on a deal. Look no further than Best Buy.
In fact, according to a National Retail Federation survey, of those consumers who have or will go shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday times, 31.8 percent said they planned to go shopping on Thursday.It's beyond belief of what our materialistic culture has done to this family holiday.
Fortunately, the retail marketplace has good competition and it will take the knowledge and patience of efficient buying and searching to get around this madness and still get a great deal on products.
If we can break this damaging cultural trend by spending Thanksgiving with the family and not shopping, more of our retail workers can also be at home.
Alternative Deals that allow you to stay with the FamilySales and tremendous deals can be found all the time both in store and on the web all throughout the marketplace. Think about it. Are the trade-off's really worth it on Thanksgiving night? If you really need to have that big screen television for under $700 or an Xbox One for under $360, know that there are similar deals out in the marketplace that don't require you to go to a crowded and traffic-choked Wal-Mart in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner.
At the time of this post, TigerDirect had a listing on eBay for a new 60 inch Seiki HDTV for $600 with free shipping. If I had to replace the big screen TV in the family room, I'd sacrifice the 5 inches of screen space and the "Smart" features, take 5 minutes to order the TV online, and stay with the family this Thanksgiving. As for the Xbox One, I'd sacrifice an extra $20, the gift card and the new Halo video game in exchange to attend my family's Thanksgiving event. Toys R Us online has one for $350 plus $6 shipping at the time of this post. Again, about 5 minutes to order one plus the 10-15 minutes to locate the deal on the net.
Plus, with the web, those alternative deals mean spending Black Friday and the rest of the four day weekend with the family too and away from the crowded stores.
Transportation Tip: Stay with the family on Thanksgiving for the entire day and evening and consider doing that for the entire four-day weekend. Enjoy the social time, play with the children, and enjoy the dinner feast. If you are forced to work on Thanksgiving day, schedule in a full uninterrupted 24 hour period with the rest of the family on another day.
Don't trade off your whole Thanksgiving night for 5 inches, $20, a free video game, or a gift card. Those precious family moments are priceless and not worth any material trade-off. Enjoy the holiday so you can keep your relationships and communities strong. We believe stronger families builds up stronger communities and keeps children out of the criminal culture. Visit the Boycott Black Thursday Facebook page and pledge not to shop for unnecessary gifts on Thanksgiving. Shopping on Thanksgiving night means other people are forced to work.
Allow retail workers the opportunity to celebrate this family holiday too.
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