This should be a day of Thanks, to be spent with loved ones. Not everything should be about money. Is this what we want to teach our children to be more concerned about money than family? I feel it hurts the joy of the event for people to know that they need to be concerned about getting ready for work or to be one of the first ones in a line to save money on an item. Let's stayed focused on one event at a time. Don't let the big stores steal life's pleasure from us! They do not respect the traditions of most American families and are leading some of our family members away from them by bribing them with savings. Let's boycott it and then it will stop. Keep our families together for the few special times we have to share.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I want to enjoy it; the last thing I want to do is shop (but I'm a typical man, and wait till the last minute anyway). However... I've noticed that Black Friday can be a good excuse (for the ladies, especially) to escape family members for awhile, especially when there's a large family gathering that's together for the holiday weekend in one space.

Stay closed on Thanksgiving. I feel bad for the employees that have to work - let them have one full day off withe their family before the craziness begins. I personally choose not to leave the house on Black Friday. I stay home and decorate instead.

When the holiday festivities were over last Thanksgiving, I did venture out to the malls and Toys R Us, just to see who was crazy enough to stand in line for the stores that were opening early. We were running a live blog on Patch and tweeting all that we saw and heard in lines and from customers. It turned out to be a lot of fun to cover. And I actually did a little shopping along the way, but don't tell my boss! I can see the down side for the folks who actually have to man the cash registers and wrap all those lovely items. My sister has always worked for a retailer and it's long hours and even longer days during the shopping season.

I'm pretty disgusted by this. I am not yet even 30 years old and the dramatic change we've seen in this area of our communities is astonishing. I feel like the focus of this article is misplaced however, because it seems more concerned with some pressure we might feel to get out and go shopping on Thanksgiving rather than on the poor people who have been forced to go to work on Thanksgiving. This was always the one day of the year that any one of any belief system was granted a day off to be with friends and family. It is shameful that consumerism has hijacked this day.

I don't have a problem with this. People ought to be able to make their own decisions about what they do with their life. If you don't want to stay home all day on thanksgiving, and you'd like to go shopping, that's great, good for you. I like spending time with family so that's what I'll be doing.

I think if people could shed this puritan urge to run everybody else's life, we'd all be much better off.

Protesters will gather on
Black Friday Nov. 23. near the Tanger Outlet Mall Walmart from 10 am—12 noon as
part of an international day of strikes and protests against the retailer. The demonstration will be held at the corner
of Center Point Drive and Tanger Outlet Blvd, Across from the Center Point
WalMart in North Charleston, SC.

Those interested are
invited to join South Carolinians and an international movement to compel
Walmart to transform its corporate culture to one which promotes human
happiness and dignity including fair pay and benefits for its employees,
commitment to US and locally manufactured goods, and increased opportunities
for secure, full time employment for its workers.

On Black Friday activists
associated with http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/ and other organizations will protest and
strike against Walmart worldwide.



The North Charleston protest will be
a safe and legal demonstration, conducted with notice to law enforcement. Arrests are not anticipated.

The protest location is near a stop
served by the CARTA #11 & #104 bus lines.
Please use transit if you can.
Demonstrators should not park in the Walmart Parking lot.



There is a Facebook event signup with
further information



http://tinyurl.com/tangerwallbf or one may call Tel 843 870-5299.

Some participants will gather at the
IHOP nearby at 9 am for Breakfast.

Since Thanksgiving is a day of giving thanks, those that serve Materialism correctly spend the day shopping.
Praise God(whatever your god is)from whom all blessings flow!

I'm for spending time with family, good friends, and yes, Aunt Mary who travels for hours each year to spend time with family. Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated as intended. Shopping can be done another day.

So exactly what is at the stores on Thursday that will not be there on Friday? Having the opening times creep into Thursday is just wrong.
Black Friday evolved from women wanting to get a head start on shopping the day after Thanksgiving, often going with family members that were around. It was almost a good thing, something enjoyable and informal for those that wanted to partake while the rest of us were home in our warm beds. Businesses (wanting to end the year 'in the black" rather than "in the red" offered teh incentives to start shopping early in the cold and dark.
The corporations have now turned it into such a sad, sad display. I'm all for capitalism, but time that was granted to the working folks to spend with their families has been hijacked by corporations and that the media (like The Patch) have turned it into a blood-sport. That diminishes family and community ties and turns us into mindless, base creatures. Hardly the best way to start into the holiday season.

How refreshing it would have been to see articles about how folks give back to their community, or service projects that youth do, or a piece on traditions and where they come from, on how and why to make special gifts rather than succumbing to the Buy More mentality, rather than chasing the "bargain" that bleeds your humanity dry.
Essential services should be in force (with huge thanks to the folks who supply those service), but everyone else should be allowed to have one day in the year that they can have some breathing space and a moment to slow down and say Thank You.