I went to the mall today (November 1^st) and to my (not so much) surprise, Christmas decorations and Christmas music were in full swing. I said to my fiancé, “wow, they didn’t waste any time.” Just yesterday I was being entertained on Instagram and Twitter, seeing the creative costumes that people created for Halloween. We even saw a truck parked in the mall parking lot with a fake skeleton sitting in the passenger seat. After my initial spook, I remembered that Halloween was indeed just yesterday. So why does society seem to just skip over Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas?

I’m sure the answer to this question stems from the capitalistic society that we live in today. Companies are trying to make money during the biggest shopping season of the year. But I miss when the Christmas season started the day after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, you can’t even look forward to Black Friday sales because a lot of retailers now offer pre-Black Friday deals. And don’t get me wrong, I love the holiday season. It is a time to rest and spend time with your loved ones, and give and receive gifts. I also got engaged last Christmas so it now holds an even more special place in my heart. I just want Thanksgiving to get the recognition it deserves.

I don’t have time to go into the unfortunate history behind Thanksgiving, so I will talk about it as the commercial holiday it has grown to be. I look forward to Thanksgiving every year simply for the food. My family makes a Thanksgiving feast with all of the traditional dishes plus more. My family is from Barbados, so we incorporate our native dishes into the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Aside from the food, we like to reflect on what we are thankful for. At nearly two years into the pandemic, we all who have been fortunate enough to still be here have plenty to be thankful for.

I’ve said all of this to say, give Thanksgiving the recognition it deserves. Let’s save the Christmas stuff for afterwards.

P.S.- Martin is me, waiting for my plate on Thanksgiving.