The student led, student read news organization at Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne Media Group

The student led, student read news organization at Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne Media Group

The student led, student read news organization at Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne Media Group

Running The Show
March 28, 2024
Women's History Month
March 28, 2024
Pretty and Polished
Pretty and Polished
March 27, 2024

Let Thanksgiving have its time!

By: Madison Watkins, A&E Editor

arts.inkwell@gmail.com

With the much needed week-long Thanksgiving break only a few days away, the holiday spirit is finally starting to settle in for some of us college students. I personally don’t really get into Halloween so in addition to enjoying fall, Thanksgiving is a holiday I really adore. I consider it a crucial part of the holiday season.

However, something that has always bugged me since childhood is the jump into Christmas after Halloween. Yes, I am about to get into that argument. Halloween is enjoyable, Christmas is great but Thanksgiving deserves it’s time in the spotlight!

Before I get into this, I do want to preface with my opinion on Christmas. I love Christmas so much. It is easily my favorite holiday because the spirit and general feeling around that time of year is like no other. I really get into the music, the holiday food, and watching the Christmas movies and TV specials once Thanksgiving has passed!

We do not need Christmas music playing or Christmas-themed TV commercials playing before Thanksgiving! However I will give a pass for Black Friday ads but that’s it! I also have my own thoughts on Black Friday but I’ll get into that later.

Before we jump into the Christmas season, why can’t we savor fall a little longer and enjoy Thanksgiving? Based off of what I see online, many people quite enjoy the season of fall once it’s here and enjoy celebrating Halloween even moreso. It would make sense to me that those people should want to fall to last as long as possible. Why jump into Christmas?

Why don’t people want to fully celebrate Thanksgiving? I understand that some people don’t get along with their families and don’t enjoy Thanksgiving because being with their families is unpleasant to them and that is fine. But you don’t have to celebrate with your immediate family if that makes you unhappy. Have your own Thanksgiving party with your friends or co-workers.

There’s so much to be thankful for. If you aren’t thankful for your family that’s okay. There are plenty of other things in our lives we can acknowledge instead. You can celebrate being thankful for your friends, your pets, your education, your job, a significant other, somewhat cool weather, clothing, or a roof over your head.

I know a lot of people usually make the argument around this time of year about the negative aspects of the holiday historically. Yes the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock did not treat the Native Americans very well but that does not ruin the whole holiday. Heck, Thanksgiving was not even made a nationwide holiday until 1863 by Abraham Lincoln.

Even though the earliest years of our country are a controversial time, we can still celebrate the idea of Thanksgiving. I don’t see anything wrong with acknowledging the positive aspects of our lives and celebrating them.

One of the reasons I believe society jumps into Christmas is because it’s so easy to commercialize. It’s all about buying the right gift for the people in our lives, which is a kind idea but I think society takes it too far. There is not much to commercialize about Thanksgiving other than cooking ingredients or fall decorations maybe, so I believe that is why you don’t see commercials for it every few minutes.

I think we need to roll back on the Black Friday hype as well. No stores should be open on Thanksgiving and no should even want to be out shopping! It’s a day to be grateful and spend time with the important people in your life. Buying gifts should not be more important than that!

With our society being so fast-paced, I think it would be beneficial for us to slow down and realize what we have. Taking a step back from your living your life and making time to enjoy it instead can work wonders.

Some of you may be thinking, “well, we can celebrate being grateful for family during Christmas too. Why not just jump into it?”

Honestly, if you are one of those people who wants to jump into Christmas, fine. You do you.

In my opinion, I think it is just too easy to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. Plus not everyone celebrates it and different people carry out their own traditions.

But Thanksgiving is a holiday anyone can celebrate. It’s for everyone! Anyone from any background can get together with the people they love to eat some yummy food and just enjoy being in each other’s presence.

Why not come together and be happy for what we have with the people we love most.

Plus, who doesn’t like watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Okay, I am stepping off my soapbox now.

 

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The George-Anne Media Group Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *