On the evening of Thanksgiving there are two types of people: those who spend time with their families, celebrating and giving thanks and those who camp outside of Best Buy to get the best price on a flat- screen television.

Correct us if we’re wrong, but isn’t the idea of Thanksgiving to be grateful for what we already have? Black Friday shopping on Thursday completely negates the meaning of Thanksgiving by turning people into greedy, ravenous animals and the worst part of all is that people are actually entertained by the chaos. Why else would Black Friday fight videos have over three- million views in four days?

The fact that stores are even open on Thanksgiving, and the fact that people are actually willing to give up time with their family to shop for so-called “deals,”is absolutely appalling. Think of the people behind the counters; a good chunk of them have had to either have Thanksgiving dinner even earlier than normal (as if dinner isn’t early enough on Thanksgiving already) or completely give up their Thanksgiving, just so crazed consumers can treat them like third-world citizens.

Why do we allow these perfectly good people to be treated like this? Shouldn’t they have the chance to have a decent Thanksgiving like the rest of us? Only the things that absolutely need to be open (e.g. the police, the fire department, MAYBE the grocery store) should be open.

Often people do their holiday shopping on Black Friday, but for those who don’t celebrate strictly for

religious reasons, the holiday season serves as a season of giving and being with family. It’s funny that the most misguided and controversial shopping day of the year lands right between these two holidays.

There is footage online of adults stealing products out of the hands of children. Would someone who is thankful for what they already have throw down for the best deal, potentially harming another person? We can understand that everyone likes a good discount on items that would normally be much higher in price, but it isn’t worth compromising the safety of everyone else.

For years, Black Friday has caused a spike in mishaps and accidents. According to blackfridaydeathcount. com (what a lovely website, by the way) there have been seven deaths and 98 injuries worldwide since 2010. The fact that a single person has died while shopping at all, other than natural deaths like heart attacks or strokes, is appalling.

What we don’t understand is why people still Black Friday shop when the best alternative comes just three days later. Cyber Monday offers a lot of similar deals without the risk of being trampled. It’s somewhat surprising that more people don’t shop on Cyber Monday anyway considering how much of our world is online now.

As a day that originated from selling slaves after Thanksgiving to a day where people are trampled and killed because of their own greed, Black Friday seems to be more of a negative occurrence than one of positivity, especially around this time of year.