Black Friday diminishes the joys of Thanksgiving

If current trends continue, the grand tradition of family and food and giving thanks may soon be a fast meal, hello, good-bye before the true expression of the holiday season rings in. Cha-ching!

Just as Halloween, the children’s celebration of costumes and candy, has been misappropriated by adults, giving them license to put on outfits to reveal and revel in their alter egos, Thanksgiving is being overtaken by acquisition disorder.

Black Friday, the big daddy of all shopping days, now starts on Thursday morning, with some retailers setting up cash registers before the turkey has even hit the oven.

Who among us can quarrel with retailers’ desire to make the most of consumers’ Christmas madness? ’Tis the season, after all, to rake in as many sales as possible to keep stores open, workers off unemployment rolls and stuff-makers cranking out more stuff.

But couldn’t we just let Thanksgiving be? It is the one holiday where the only requirement is sharing of a huge meal. No need for sparkling lights, decorative trees, multicolored ribbons and wraps, no frenzy, no added debt load.

Some would argue that Christmas retains its emotional value, not only for religious purposes, but for conveying thoughtfulness to loved ones through gifts. Yet in these times, when people are still trying to right their financial boats, there are many who have a hard time coping.

A recent survey of 1,000 Americans of all income levels found that 45 percent said financial pressures of the holiday season made them wish they could skip it altogether. About 45 percent said they doubt they have enough money put aside for holiday expenses.

The hype of Black Friday, however, has some people thinking they do, if they just shop smart, shop early, shop with a plan.

There is no shortage of advice on how to go about getting the biggest bang for the buck. The advice ranges from simply making a list and checking it twice, to assembling a Black Friday ops team. The latter involves intelligence scouts scouring websites, newspaper ads, shiny shopper booklets and mall magazines for bargain goods. Then team members are deployed for various duties such as checkout-line holders, runners to shuttle them goods, other runners to load the SUV with purchases, spotters to reconnoiter shelves for undiscovered products and pursers who keep the accounts straight.

Black Friday shopping involves risks as relatively harmless as overspending to physical injury as eager buyers surge through the aisles, wrestling flat-screens from rival customers. Still, there is a breed of Americans who really do enjoy this crazy exercise in consumerism. Seriously.

According to a professor of marketing at a San Antonio university, a sense of community evolves in mutual pursuit of stuff through jam-packed aisles. An infectious holiday spirit arises in the shared adventure of wee-hour shopping.

OK, to each her own. As long as Black Friday stays in its 24-hour space, fine. Just give Thanksgiving Day its due, please.

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Cynthia Oi can be reached at coi@staradvertiser.com.