Every year millions of Americans participate in Black Friday shopping with great deals on all the hottest, new things of the year. Some even take it a step further and begin shopping on Thanksgiving Day, choosing to go shopping after Thanksgiving dinner.

Black Friday can trace its roots back to the 1950s, when workers called in “sick” on the Friday after Thanksgiving in order to have a four-day weekend. Retailers caught on and eventually began having doorbuster sales on this day.

For decades, people have begun shopping on this day in order to find great deals and get a head start on Christmas shopping. Though the question I have to ask is, why?

Black Friday itself is a good idea for retailers, but I think it has morphed into something unhealthy for the public. We as a consumerist nation are driven to go out and participate. While there is nothing wrong with shopping on Black Thursday or Black Friday, I think the time would be better spent with our families at home. Materialism drives us, and we think we can buy the happiness of our family if we can just get them that new flatscreen TV or blender.

Now, if your family does need a new appliance then Black Friday would not be a bad time to get said appliance. However, I believe, Americans spending billions of dollars every year on material things is not healthy. I believe the better thing to spend is not money, but time with your family. Time is something you cannot refund, unlike that new PS5 that you camped for, excuse the gaming pun there.

The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have changed Black Friday. There was no Black Friday in 2020, and Cyber Monday has become more popular now thanks to the pandemic. I do not know how this could change the landscape of Black Friday for the upcoming years, but it will be interesting to see.

My family and I used to go shopping on Thanksgiving Day, and it was fun some years and meh in some other years. But since the pandemic came, this will be the third year in a row that I or my family has not gone Black Thursday or Friday shopping. This has led me to change my views on Black Friday tremendously. By not going shopping on Thursday, I have spent more time at home with my family, and it has made me appreciate that time more. I believe that people can benefit more by doing the same.

Instead of fighting someone for a TV in a Black Friday crowd, I encourage you to spend time with family this holiday season.

Paul Tointigh is a third-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.