Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Ham. Stuffing. Gravy. Pumpkin Pie. Friends. Love. Joy. Family. Laughter. What do all of these things bring to mind? Thanksgiving Day. The tradition of Thanksgiving began in the early 1600s shortly after pilgrims’ ships landed on American soil. To celebrate their arrival and all of their successful harvests, they feasted merrily and gave thanks for a time of such great fortune. From that point on, American people made it a point to honor the holiday around the same time each year. Since those times, however, Thanksgiving traditions have changed significantly. Today, Americans are more focused on getting to their stores early as possible before the much anticipated Black Friday begins. Businesses have recognized this …show more content…
Though it makes sense to think that opening the doors one day early would increase sales revenue tremendously, the numbers tell a different story. According to CNN Money, “Sales over the full four-day period from Thanksgiving to ‘Black Sunday’ rose only 1% from 2012 to 2013. That’s an anemic growth in the retail sector” (“Opening on Thanksgiving Day Doesn’t Boost Sales”). Consider that, because this is the busiest shopping weekend of the year, more employees will be in the store and on call over the course of the weekend. This means that more money is being paid out to employees – they are not necessarily making a higher dollar amount, but rather they are working longer shifts – so how profitable can opening a day early be? The small increase in revenue could be attributed to a few things. The first is that online retailers are dominating the shopping industry. Online shopping is easy and convenient, and it does not require consumers to leave their homes or their families on Thanksgiving, though employees that work for exclusively online companies, such as Amazon, are staffed around the clock, especially on this particular weekend. Another explanation may be that consumers are actually inclined to wait longer to go holiday shopping because they think they will get better deals in doing so; there might be a surprise blowout sale in which a company advertises that it wants everything …show more content…
Companies have grown so greedy that they value getting the sale over keeping the customer by respecting that all people should be at home with their relatives on Thanksgiving Day. Opening early to get ahead in business during the busiest holiday shopping weekend of the year is an immoral and unethical business practice. When companies force their employees to work on Thanksgiving without incentive, it shows where companies’ values lie. Though good business is built from social responsibility and respect for a company’s own resources – its customers and its employees – it seems that a lot of companies have adopted the socioeconomic approach to business, meaning they are more concerned about beating out the competition to attract consumers by opening a day early. While research indicates that Thanksgiving Day sales may actually hurt a company’s total sales revenue during the Black Friday weekend overall, a lot of businesses are unfortunately continuing to open earlier and earlier each year. If this does not come to an end, will Thanksgiving eventually be forgotten? Requiring that companies close their doors on Thanksgiving will not only promote ethical consideration for consumers and employees alike, it will potentially reduce the risk of sales revenue loss on Black Friday and it will honor what the holiday is truly about – family and being
Chain stores, such as K-Mart and Wal-Mart swing their doors wide for all deal seekers at around 6 a.m. Individuals will wake up earlier than necessary, drive to these stores, and camp out prior to the stores opening, if only just to ensure they get the best spot in line. Also near this time, various online deals begin. This means before many people wake up on Thanksgiving morning, sales have already started both in store and online. By this standard, the day’s workers have to get to the store hours before it opens to prepare the store for the surplus of people and the chaos that will soon enfold. People should be getting rest or preparing food for their lunches or dinners, but instead they are shopping or working. Retailers place priority on shopping from the moment people wake up until they go to sleep. There is never an emphasis on family throughout the entire day in these chain stores. The madness occurs throughout the entirety of both days, causing lack of family time in both days of the holiday for patrons and
The table can be filled with many different types of foods, and it differs from family to family. However, there are some foods that are seen at almost every Thanksgiving table. First off, the turkey, it is the most important part of the celebration for most families in the United States. There are multiple reasons to why the turkey has become such a big part of Thanksgiving. For example, a colonist named William Bradford wrote in his journals that colonists hunted wild turkeys during autumn of 1621, which is named as the first Thanksgiving. Another reason to why the turkey is an important part of the holiday is because the birds are big and can feed a lot of people compared to other birds such as chickens (Trex, 2008). Although the turkey is the most important food on the table for most families, it is common for most families to also serve some sort of sweet potatoes, for example, a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. As Thanksgiving is a feast holiday a dessert is usually also served, one of the most common desserts on Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin has been around for hundreds of years, and always been a part of thanksgiving, however, it is more likely that the pumpkin was served after being baked or stewed rather than a pie on the first years when Thanksgiving were celebrated (Trex, 2008). As it is a feast holiday the table has many more types of foods, but it varies from family to family what is put onto the table, however, the turkey, sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin pie is almost always found at every Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to get together with your family and have a nice dinner. Then you play games, catch up, and watch movies. Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful for what you have. But wait; now you had to start dinner earlier and cut out catching up with your family. Now it’s time to get ready to go shopping for those deals you just can’t beat. Forget about being thankful for what you have; now it’s time to buy all the things you don’t have. Has Thanksgiving been taking over by Black Friday, or should we now be calling it Black Thursday? Stores should only be able to open after 12 am on Black Friday.
During fall, the leaves fall, the temperature drops, and people sit around a table and say what they are thankful for. While we are consuming pounds of turkey and stuffing, the Pilgrims are to thank for the annual feast. Because the meaning of this holiday is to not stuff your face with endless amount of carbs, we should be reminded of how grateful we are for what we own. Thanksgiving was a very memorable time in U.S. history.
As an employee at a popular retail store, I feel that the holiday shopping outside the home should be stopped. I have noticed that everyone’s attitude changes for the worse and not the better during this season. For example, this past month I saw a neighbor of mine fighting with another woman over a $10 ‘NERF’ football. This football happened to be the last one left. On any other Saturday, one of the two women would give up the football and try to find something else. But during this season all they want to do is rip each others head off for the ball.
When the great holiday of Thanksgiving comes to mind, most people think of becoming total gluttons and gorging themselves with a seemingly unending amount of food. Others might think of the time spent with family and friends. The whole basis of the holiday is family togetherness, fellowship, and thankfulness for blessings received during the previous year.
“Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature”. From the beginning of time man and nature has been in conflict with one another because, as a whole, there is no cooperating. Each one tirelessly wants its way. The Man is fighting for dominance and nature w never yielding its authority. In American Literature, many authors illustrate this theme in their writing. Specifically the writers Jack London in The Law Of Life, Stephen Crane The Open Boat and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin. Each explores the relationship between humans and nature but with slightly different methods. Mark Twain uses nature in a realistic way, Jack London in a naturalistic way and Stephen Crane constitutes a combination of both.
A big part of Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving feast. The feast usually consists of potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peas, gravy, stuffing, salads, buns and lots of other great food. The main part of the feast is usually the turkey. Other families might have ham, roast beef, duck or chicken. The dessert that is most likely to follow the feast is pumpkin pie. Other people may choose different desserts and food depending on their customs and beliefs for which they choose to give thanks. Let’s not forget the biggest and most important reason for this holiday – giving THANKS! People usually give thanks for everything they have. Their jobs, health, families or just being alive are just a few of the things that people give thanks for.
In fact, they have fun on the day because they love the atmosphere through Christmas songs and illuminations. Christmas is thought by many people to be the most wonderful time of the year. Winter snow, Christmas tree, decorations and Santa Claus are very important things which makes us happy and think that it is the most beautiful day of all the year. Everybody waits for the day because it has various meanings for different people. Moreover, they can see beautiful illuminations and listen to Christmas songs in cities or downtown. However, some adults who are parents need to spend money for buying many gifts for children. In the United States, parents generally purchase the gifts on a Black Friday. It is good for them to get their presents on the day because they more discounts on that day than other
My thanksgiving party is huge!!! We invite our huge family over to my house and we have a grand time. We have a lot of games planned so that no one is bored. But if they do get bored every once in awhile, then we have the football game on so that they can relax and watch that. We aren't the only family that ginormous party just like my family or they might just have a miniature party that is very quiet with just a couple of family members.
Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.
What makes a good person good? According to WikiHow, "We should learn to define our own morals ourselves. One of the simplest ways to do so is to love others, and treat them as you would like to be treated. Try to think of others before yourself. Even doing small things daily will greatly enrich and improve your life, and the lives of others around you." This quote shows us what we need to do in order to be what society thinks as, “good". In order to be a good person, you have to do good and moral things in your society consistently. However people might think that by doing one good thing once in a while will automatically make you a “good person”, but in reality it doesn’t.
First,I think it should be called President’s day cause you are not just celebrating George’s birthday you are celebrating George and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. This is my second reason why I think it should be called president day cause 50 states are changing it on their calendar to President’s day. Finally I think it should be called president’s day because you are not just celebrating on person’s birthday but all President’s birthday.
Thanksgiving Day is the national holiday celebrated in Canada, the United States of America and many other nations of the world with a lots of joy and enthusiasm. In America, it is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of the November month. This day is commonly celebrated to thank the God for the “bounty of autumn harvest” and for his blessings; with an euphoric environment in every houses and places, celebration of this day is done by eating delicious foods mainly “carved turkeys, Pumpkin Pie, Corns, Cranberry Sauce, potatoes and yams which are the traditional dishes adorning the dinner tables” (Smith). In this day, gifts are also given to show gratitude and respect towards the elders, relatives and friends.
Workers are necessary to work for longer hours as the business is open until that time. For some workers, this is necessary as they need more money to improve their lives especially if they have many children. Longer shopping hours leads to more consumption. Consumption is one of the most significant parts of the whole economy as it encouraged the business to produce or to sell goods and services. As the level of consumption increases, the wages or salaries for the workers may increase as well due to their good performance at their work. High level of consumption benefits the business because the business can make profit and push the economy further. Due to the increase in profit, they are more willing to produce and sell; therefore, they may provide more job opportunities in the labour market. Employment usually increases after better shopping hours are introduced. According to this, the employment rate increases and there will be higher levels of household income and consumption. Evidence from the rest of Australia and overseas shows that extended shopping hours increased economic activity levels to more jobs across the economy. Although an Acnielsen survey published that 51% of male and 44% of female believe that work hours determine their sleep schedules, the workers need to work to shoulder their family. Even though the business may be greedy to sacrifice the public garden in order to build more shopping malls to make profits, maybe such cases are rare because of the government. Extending shopping time benefits both workers and business to increase their revenue and improve their life