There’s nothing like enjoying a nice Thanksgiving dinner and hearing a plethora of ads telling me to bust some doors at midnight to save money on my holiday shopping. I confess, I have always loved Black Friday.

 It’s the day when shopping truly becomes a sport, and you get to go through all the flyers and create a strategy on which stores to attack.

Just last year, most of the big-name stores opened their doors at obscene hours, like four in the morning. This year, however, most stores began their sales at midnight, or even 10 p.m. It seems that with these new times, shoppers don’t have to wake up too early and drive in the midst of a food hangover. These earlier hours, however, impact the day before the biggest shopping day of the year: Thanksgiving. Remember that holiday?

If stores are opening on Thanksgiving night, then when do families get to enjoy a meal and simply be with each other? Instead, cars are loaded, sleepy-eyed children are given strict instructions on how to behave and store circulars are clasped tightly by determined parents.

And so, the shopping frenzy begins. And that’s all alright—there is nothing wrong with getting up early to save money. In fact, I commend that. There is, however, something very wrong with using pepper spray, fists and guns to buy something on sale.

According to USA Today, Black Friday 2011 brought in a shooting in California and shoppers held at gunpoint in South Carolina, among many other reports of violent outbreaks. In Los Angeles, a woman used pepper spray to gain an “advantage” at a Walmart.

Let’s stop and remember why people act this way. In order to get the best deals, shoppers must wake up ridiculously early and wait hours in line. These best deals have the possibility of making the best holiday presents. These holiday presents, in turn, are going to those we love—our family and friends.

Now, how would your five-year-old cousin feel if he found out that you physically injured someone in order to buy the remote control helicopter? Or maybe a more important question: how would Santa feel?

Where has the holiday spirit gone? Remember when a man was trampled to death at a Walmart on Long Island in 2008? What did he do to deserve that?

His only fault was that he was hired as a temporary worker for the holiday season. Instead of opening the store with ease, mob mentality set in, and a crowd of 2,000 people poured in the store, crushing Jdimtai Damour to death.

I’m sure there will be many more sales before the holidays arrive, and many more Black Fridays where people will do whatever they can in order to get that marked-down flat screen television, but what is the point of it all?

If you are spending more time ogling through advertisements than spending time with your family, then you’re doing it wrong. If you are shopping by shoving your way through a crowd, then you are definitely doing it wrong.

The holidays are a stressful time for almost everyone, so be kind.

Use those manners we learned back in the day and be courteous.

Let that lady next to you get the last sweater marked down 90 percent.

Santa would definitely appreciate it if  you leave the pepper spray at home and instead, bring some extra holiday cheer with you next time you shop.

 

To contact The Ionian’s Ranisha Singh, e-mail her at [email protected]