We are now officially four days away from the start of the chaotic end of the year. Everything from the day after Thanksgiving/Black Friday and the second day of January is all about consumerism, commuting and mental confusion.
Black Friday is known as the day when everybody shops, so retail goes “into the black” on the profit charts. Many major retail stores gave up on the idea of opening on Thanksgiving Day and are back to throwing open the doors Friday morning with–if supply issues don’t get in the way–bargains galore for people who think they will get all their holiday shopping done in one day, in advance, and have time to relax. It never works out that way.
For one thing, who knows people’s sizes? And what do you get the man who has everything? Or the teenager who has money to buy everything for themselves? There is always gift cards.
The deliveries, repackaging and mailing of presents, in the meantime, goes on for weeks, and it even bleeds over into the days after the holidays when the late packages manage to find their way home. The postal service is probably the happiest to be in the black of anybody. It is the season for cards and colorful envelopes and stamps themed for religious or non-denominational joy.
Since this is the first Thanksgiving in two years to be considered fully back to normal, millions of people plan to travel to visit relatives this year. This usually means flying or driving, though some people take trains. I have never had to travel for the holiday, so I don’t know if it goes well. I suppose it’s easier to bring a homemade pie on a train than a plane. In fact, it’s probably illegal on a plane, simply because the airlines probably starve the flight crew. The best Thanksgivings we had involved a ten-minute drive with an ice cream cake and a calendar for our host; it was an annual tradition that ended two years ago when the host went to live in a facility closer to family.
Whether you celebrate one, two or more, or none of the upcoming December holidays, you can’t help but become involved in the amazing display of madness going on as people attempt to take on too much before the end of the year. The best part of the start of the holiday season is knowing it, too, will end on schedule on January 2.
For that, we can all be thankful.
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