Photo provided by: PICRYL Public Domain Media

Halloween, Christmas, are we missing one? A classic Thanksgiving turkey gets desecrated by the hand of consumerism.

The holiday agenda this year doesn’t seem to include any time for Thanksgiving. Halloween passed and Mariah Carey was already blasting on the radios. As soon as Halloween costumes had been taken off, Carey’s song ran rampant across the nation. As a true Thanksgiving enjoyer, I feel the holiday has been desecrated in favor of the big bucks that Halloween and Christmas rake in.

Even in the week preceding Halloween there was talk about Christmas trees, presents, and favorite holiday songs — all of which were Christmas themed. Thanksgiving seems to be an afterthought, and when mentioned, is always quickly glossed over. People in recent years seem to shy away from Thanksgiving as anything more than an excuse to eat turkey and pie. The true meaning of the holiday, despite its more than questionable origins, has evolved to be a time to give thanks for everything you have. Thanksgiving always appealed to me, given the contrast it provides from the clear consumerism of Christmas and Halloween.

Thanksgiving has even been taken over by the day after it, Black Friday, a day that is centered around spending money on discounted items. You used to have to go to stores and wait in long lines to do your shopping. Now, with the addition of Cyber Monday and more promotion days, you can order anything you want for what seems like a whole week of discounts, which invades any family time you might have gotten with relatives from out of town. 

These past few years, Halloween has blown way past the size of Thanksgiving, and Christmas seems to seep in earlier and earlier. We can’t forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving, as most of the holidays we celebrate nowadays have less and less to do with family and being thankful for the things we have, and instead more about how much money we can get people to spend. Spending time with the people you love and giving thanks for the time you have already spent is one of the most important things in life, and that is the true meaning of Thanksgiving.