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    CanuckleheadDavid Turner
    11/26/14 8:20pm

    Your article makes me sad. I presume you have no dependents of your own, nor a spouse / partner, but I'm glad you at least now help your mom peel potatoes in preparation for the "weary" feast as opposed to laying about, drinking beer & watching football all day whilst the "womenfolk" wait on you and prepare your under-appreciated dinner.

    If it was intended as satire, I'm sorry I missed that. Your byline states that you "tepidly embrace consumer culture everyday". Everyday except Black Friday, when you whole-heartedly embrace consumerism?

    As a Canadian, I have increasingly grown to hate "Christmas" and the orgy of consumerism and expectations that surrounds our primary holiday which begins to be promoted in stores November 1st. Every kid wants an I-phone, and a tablet, PS4 & a 40" plasma screen, and designer clothes, and, and, and... Wtf was wrong with a Red Ryder BB gun and a pair of socks!? G.I. Joe with the fuckin' Kung-foo grip!? It never stops. Expectations just keep exploding out of control, and beyond any semblance of what is NEEDED or AFFORDABLE.

    That is why I have admired my cousins to the south, whose main holiday insofar as connecting with family is/was Thanksgiving. You go home and see your fam, and have time together, and maybe even help your aging mom or gran (if your lucky enough to still have your mom & dad, or grandparents) and you don't need to worry about going in debt to impress everyone by buying them gifts that they probably don't need or want, or disappointing your kids by coming up short.

    You just burst my bubble dude :(

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      benjaminalloverCanucklehead
      11/28/14 9:20am

      My mom declared about 10 years ago, "This is bullshit. We're not Consumerist, we're Pagan." And that was that.

      We do not do any gift-buying in my family and I LOVE IT. First, because I don't like shopping in the first place, and I hate buying anything I don't need/can't eat. Second, our family is very tight and we actually like to hang out. While everyone else is waiting in lines and going into debt, we get together to eat and drink. How is it festive, and different than any other time of year? The quality and quantity of food and alcohol, the Bing Crosby Christmas record, and a tree.

      The fact that millions of people spend their holidays in a mall is crazy and sad, but it represents a rather impressive coup of American culture by corporations. I a couple of generations we've gone from chestnuts on the fire to plasma t.v. riots.

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      davidturnerbenjaminallover
      11/28/14 10:44am

      That sounds pretty awful, but yall enjoy it, so I wish you the best.

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    The Ghost of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ AKA BabyStepsDavid Turner
    11/28/14 12:27am

    I went out today at about 1 pm to the Whole Foods in Chicago's South Loop. On my way there I passed BestBuy. I was shocked to see people standing outside in a roped-off area waiting to get into the store. By the time I got back out the line had wrapped around the corner. I drove home with my blueberry pie that I was bringing to someone's house later that day. :(

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      TexasTexasTexasThe Ghost of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ AKA BabySteps
      11/28/14 11:44am

      In my town, Best Buy sold 55" flat-screen Panasonics for $199 at 6pm on Black Thursday (Thanksgiving).

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      The Ghost of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ AKA BabyStepsTexasTexasTexas
      11/28/14 12:13pm

      That must be what it was. I hope everyone got what they wanted.

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    YourExFutureWifeDavid Turner
    11/26/14 4:29pm

    The trend of opening stores on Thanksgiving evening is just awful for everyone - from the low wage retail employees in the big box stores who have to cut their holiday short, to the small independent businesses that are forced to open earlier to compete (or miss out on savings).

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      UncleCCClaudiusDavid Turner
      11/28/14 8:20am

      I'm about to leave for my BF shift. We couldn't find enough seasonals this year so Management and anyone with register experience is ringing today. I'm in Handbags, pray for me.

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        davidturnerUncleCCClaudius
        11/28/14 8:33am

        Prayers sent!

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      Jerry-NetherlandDavid Turner
      11/26/14 4:33pm

      "The only image of Thanksgiving I had at the time, it became quickly became the ideal for the holiday, which all others would be compared."

      Maybe rework this sentence?

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        duckonajunebugDavid Turner
        11/26/14 5:21pm

        I loathe the idea of stores opening on Thanksgiving with the bitter hatred of a former retail worker. But I vividly remember following my mother around on Black Fridays. When we first started going, I was in my 40s, she was 75 and practically crippled by arthritis. We would start at 7:00 and, by 3 in the afternoon, I would be lagging behind her, moaning, and begging for just a muffin and some coffee. After a while, she gave up taking me because I was just too much of a lightweight.

        Man, could that woman shop. We thought about scattering her ashes at the outlets at Woodbury Commons.

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