It was like clockwork. When the clock struck midnight and it was officially Nov. 1st, Halloween went out the door and it was like a switch flipped in everyone’s brain around the country that Halloween was over and Christmas time was here. 

Everywhere you look, whether it be on TikTok, Instagram, X, formerly known as Twitter, TV commercials, or in my case, my neighbor’s house, there is something that is related to Christmas. Mariah Carey even made a post doing her annual “It’s time” insinuating that Christmas time is here.

In stores all over the United States, you can already start to see Black Friday deals, Christmas lights being put up, and all items being bought as “Christmas gifts.” Houses everywhere are taking down their decorations from Halloween and going out to Lowe’s and Home Depot searching to find the perfect decorations for their home. This is in fact nice and all, but I think we’re all forgetting one very important detail about the end of 2023.

It feels like everyone forgets what holiday is on Nov. 23. Does everyone forget that this is the month of thankfulness and appreciation? This month is meant to give thanks to our parents, professors, teachers, guardians, and anyone who has helped us get to where we are today. It’s a time to just appreciate them before the actual gift-giving of that appreciation starts the month after.

This has been a trend that has been happening more and more as the years go by, and I think this year has just gotten out of hand. 

I completely understand that occasions such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are holidays that everyone is completely excited to get into and get started. However, we need to slow down a bit and actually appreciate what’s in front of us.

November is a month that is all about appreciating everything, especially your loved ones past and present. It is also for appreciating our troops as well, celebrating Veterans Day on Nov. 11, especially since our troops are serving day and night to protect our country. With the country sort of attempting to subside the major holiday makes me worried about what these companies truly care about. Is it us as consumers or is it just the big opportunity for these companies to make an extreme amount of money and overconsume us with the idea that these holidays encourage you to spend money?

Black Friday is a part of it too, shadowing the importance of Thanksgiving with holiday shopping. The whole idea is that there are sales that if you really look at it aren’t sales, but a way to get you to spend more money. It starts with companies coming together to agree on a day specifically picked during the beginning of holiday time where all seems to be right in the world. Then they make you feel like it’s acceptable to want to spend so much money which leads to the so-called “deals.” What they really do is make the prices what they actually should be and disguise them as discounts. 

I think we all just need to really look at this from a human aspect. If you were Thanksgiving and your best friend was Christmas, and it was supposed to be your time to shine but everyone is giving Christmas the love, you’d be pissed.

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