A day that was once known as one to spend time with your family and eat a big turkey dinner is slowly turning into one of staying up all night and fighting crowds to go shopping. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year with great sales, is slowly making its way into Thanksgiving.

In the past few years, many stores are choosing to open around dinner time on Thanksgiving rather than the traditional midnight or 2 a.m. opening. Employees of retail stores and their families are now having to have their dinners earlier on Thursday, but for what? So they can get some good deals that they will probably be able to get for the rest of the Christmas season?

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day to actually give thanks and spend time with your family, but it has turned into something where people are stressed out over getting material items.

Do not get me wrong. I am all for Black Friday. I love waking up early on Friday to go out and shop. Shopping is definitely my guilty pleasure and this is the only day of the year that I can go to all of the stores in the middle of night and fulfill that guilty pleasure. But Thanksgiving is also the only day of the year that I get to wake up and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, watch football and eat a huge turkey dinner with my family. I want Thanksgiving and Black Friday to be two separate days — not merge into one.

Best Buy and Toys R Us are opening at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving day, with many other stores opening at 6 p.m., according to theblackfriday.com. JCPenney is even opening at 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving day. It is honestly ridiculous. The employees of those stores now have to worry about getting everyone in their families to eat dinner earlier so they can get to work on time and many shoppers will be doing the same thing so they do not think they are missing out on any great sale.

Personally, my family’s tradition is to eat our Thanksgiving dinner around a normal dinner time — generally 5 or 6 p.m. This year, however, my 18-year-old brother has to be at work at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving for their Black Friday opening. Because of this, my Thanksgiving is going to feel much different this year and it is because of Black Friday. It may not seem like a big deal to some people, but I love the holidays and tradition, so it is pretty upsetting for me.

The good news is that most stores are keeping their hours the same as they were last year. In previous years, every store has been gradually pushing their hours up earlier each year, closer and closer to Thanksgiving. It is a good sign that that did not happen this year, but I still think that Black Friday needs to actually go back to being Black Friday.

There are also some stores that refuse to participate in the madness of Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving. Stores such as Staples and H&M will be closed on Thursday, which are both stores that were open on Thursday last year, according to TIME. Other stores are taking a huge stand by not participating at all — REI outdoor store is going to be closed on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to TIME. While I think closing on Black Friday is a bit much, I like the fact that they are taking a stand against the day taking over Thanksgiving.

This year, I challenge you to wait until at least midnight to go Black Friday shopping. Spend Thursday with your family and remember what Thanksgiving should really be about.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. They are not directly the opinions of The Slate, its staff or Shippensburg University as a whole. Concerns or letters to the editor can be sent to shipspeaks@gmail.com.

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