Get your corporate mistletoe off our turkey

This year it began before the jack-o'-lanterns decomposed and the Elsa costumes were hung away. Every year Christmas creep begins earlier and earlier. A mid-November stroll around my New York City neighborhood revealed that almost all retail establishments had put up Christmas decorations, and many advertised "pre-Black Friday" sales. The only Thanksgiving decorations—or acknowledgement of Thanksgiving at all—were in the supermarket. We all know why this is. Money. Other than for the food and travel industries, Thanksgiving is not a profitable holiday. Few people send Thanksgiving cards, give Thanksgiving gifts, or put up strings of little turkey-shaped lights.  Traditionally, stores closed on Thanksgiving and thus could not bring in any money at all that day.

Recently, corporate America’s attitude towards Thanksgiving has changed. Many big-chain stores are now open on Thanksgiving, forcing their employees to work instead of spending time with their families. Additionally, we are inundated with Christmas-themed advertisements and television programming starting the day after Halloween. Stores commence their holiday promotions and some radio stations switch to their all-holiday music format in the beginning of November.

Where is Thanksgiving in all this Christmas hubbub? Other than for those slaving in the kitchen, Thanksgiving gets a little lost. It is minimized, rendered insignificant by its more charismatic, more vocal counterpart. Sure, it’s nice to enjoy a big meal and have leftover turkey to put in your sandwiches for the next week, but isn’t it time to get on with that holiday shopping?

This approach is problematic on many levels. To start with, Thanksgiving is for people of all religious backgrounds and beliefs—including nonbelievers. It is a holiday that invites all in this country to celebrate, even the most recent to arrive. Thanksgiving is about feeling appreciative for what we have. For some, it is about thanking a higher power. For others it is about thanking family and friends or thanking this country for taking them—or their ancestors—in when their own homelands oppressed them. Thanksgiving is about sharing with others. Thanksgiving is about spending time with family and friends and about including those who have no family of their own to celebrate with. It is about helping to provide a feast for those who cannot afford it.

Christmas, on the other hand, is a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a Christian holiday. Millions of non-Christian Americans do not observe it. Of course, the commercial establishment ignores that fact. To them, Christmas is about people spending as much money as possible. It is about forcing employees to work ridiculous hours, because someone just might want to buy video games at 4 AM. It is about enticing people to go into debt buying extravagant gifts they cannot afford. It is about forcing people to compete with each other to grab one of this year’s difficult to find "hot gifts." It is about enriching corporate big box stores.  

What would Jesus have thought of this version of Christmas? He would have hated it. On the other hand, I bet he would have loved Thanksgiving.