Blacker than we thought

Happy thanksgiving everyone. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday and found it to be a peaceful rest from the craziness of this time of year. Who would have known it was a harbinger for even more craziness.
Craziness is what occurred at 12, 3, 5, or 7 in the morning the following day, Friday. Friday after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday," a day on which consumers flock to stores to get the hot new deals and sales that companies offer for only a few short hours.
Black Friday started early this year. Usually, early is at 5 in the morning. Sometimes early is at 3 in the morning. Unusually, midnight is early. This year, however, we saw a whole new act of crazy. Stores began to open during the Thanksgiving holiday in an attempt to get even more shoppers to flock to their stores. The advertisers couldn't even wait until the single day on the calendar dedicated completely and entirely to them, but they also had to bleed over into the only day a year dedicated to thankfulness.
I see something vividly wrong with putting Thanksgiving and Black Friday next to each other on the calendar. Lets set up a full parallel. On one side, we have the day during which we are supposed to spend the day basking in all that is great about the lives that we live. We are supposed to acknowledge just how good we have it in life and to be happy with what we have. Now, on the other hand, we are supposed to sprint to the stores, fight in the aisles of stores, wait in hours long lines, and argue and heckle over prices just so that we may accumulate more STUFF. We aren't buying any prayer books here people (although I apologize if religious items were on your wish list). We were buying TVs, jewelry, appliances, and clothing.
The spirit of the holidays that of giving, and I understand that. Black Friday is most often about buying for others, about getting our holiday shopping list done for all of those people who we want to buy gifts for. That is admirable, that we are spending our time and money on others. Still, though, I am still critical of the day for a number of reasons. The first is that not all shopping is so benevolent. Much of it is just as selfish as on any other day of the year: going to get the hot deal so that we can get things for ourselves. Another reason is that I do not believe it is an emergency to good things for others. You don't need to rush out and cut short your day of thanksgiving to buy stuff for other people. We need to make sure that we are giving one of our most important holidays its due, and giving it entirely.
I am just as guilty of Black Friday spending. I purchased a new watch at a store for a mind-blowing price. I was pleased. My new watch makes me happy. But I did it at 2 in the afternoon, the day after I had celebrated all that I already had.
We can be consumers looking for the best deals, but we need to make sure that we are getting the important days in order. Thanksgiving is not merely a holiday that we have to get around simply so that we can get to Black Friday. It is, rather, one of our most important national celebrations, and should be given respect as such.