It's really disturbing that Thanksgiving has become Shopping Day. I'm old school in that I wouldn't mind if some blue laws were revived, where just about everything was closed on Sundays and people stayed home with or visited family and friends. But I feel worst for the Walmart / K Mart / etc. employees who pretty much give up their holiday because they have to get to work at 9PM or midnight.

At the rate that Christmas is being advertised, we will soon lose Labor Day to Christmas shopping, this year Christmas decorations were out with school supplies and halloween decorations. Christmas has turned into nothing but a commercial venture and people have lost the real meaning of what the Christmas holiday is about. Black friday deals are being "leaked" a month in advance. The whole thing has moved into the ridiculous column!

I'm with everyone else. Bring back the traditional holiday seasons. Christmas season is supposed to start the day AFTER Thanksgiving. Granted, we may put our decorations up before Thanksgiving because of the weather, but we do NOT turn anything on until Thanksgiving night. Holidays have been over commercialized for years and I don't see it ending anytime soon, and that's sad.

Thanksgiving was always my favorite of the three major holidays - Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving - because it is a time for family to come together just for the sake of giving thanks for the blessings of family and friends. No one expects any gifts or candies, just the sharing and enjoyment of a good meal and conversation around the dinner table. What a shame that this simple celebration to give thanks is getting lost in what has become the craziness and commercialism of Christmas.

My opinion on this whole insidious mess! Boycott the retailers who push the envelope! I agree whole heartily with the Oak lawn Guy! Christmas has become nothing more than a retailers holiday. In our house the decorations don't go up until AFTER Thanksgiving and don't come down Dec. 26th but after Jan 6th. The Feast of the Epiphany aka 3 kings Day!

As a priest formerly at St. Jude's said during his sermon: "The Christmas season doesn't end on Christmas Day, it begins on Christmas day". People have lost the meaning of Christmas.

I'll join the choir. With Christmas hype starting earlier and earlier, Thanksgiving is getting buried under the tinsel and glitter of sales promotions for "Black Friday".
I have nothing against commerce, but the avarice is so blatant that it has become distasteful. But are the merchants really to blame, or are they just serving what the public has demanded?

To me, the solution is pretty simple. I don't participate in the shopping frenzy. Thanksgiving has always been a chill day for food, family, friends, and football and I intend to keep it that way.

I love Christmas, but AFTER Thanksgiving, and preferably in December. I don't listen to the schmaltzy Delilah stories on the 24/7 Christmas music stations until a few days before Christmas. (The all-Christmas format radio is now starting in early November! What?!)

Marketing studies supposedly show that people like the early Christmas folderol, so I won't tell someone else how to celebrate their holidays, as long as they don't tell me how to celebrate mine.

Happy thanksgiving everyone.

With this economy, people still looking for work or trying to make ends meet because they took lower paying jobs, I do appreciate that stores started having some of there Black Friday priced sales earlier this year. Its really helping my budget & be able to buy a really nice gift here and there.

But I do think its wrong of these stores to start opening on Thanksgiving night. These idiots & their business planning think that by opening earlier & longer, will mean they'll make more. Sorry...that's not true. In fact, last year with Toys R Us opening at midnight & other stores opening at 2am, I ran out of steam earlier....& actually spent less!

Yes, I know no one is making me to shop these hours. However, last year & this year, it was very evident that store buyers are purchasing less stock. So if you wait, things are picked over & you risk not having that one asked for gift if you don't get it while its there.

Seriously, to all the stores....if you want to make more money...go back to opening at 4/5am on Friday. Leave Thanksgiving alone & put your corporate greed on hold. Let your employees spend the holiday with their family & loved ones. Life is just too short to make it all about making a buck. Consumers will still spend the same amount shopping on Friday & other days.

I love Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July;they are truly All-American holidays. However, due to advertising, commercialism, corporate greed, etc., poor Thanksgiving has been pushed aside in favor of Halloween and Christmas which is where the money is to be made. No more family time;just eat a piece of turkey and rush to the stores for after Thanksgiving sales.

My four year old asked me why people hate Thanksgiving. I asked why he was asking that question. He said "no one talks about it, they only talk about Christmas." That should tell you something right there

Newsflash: for people who don't like football, Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been a gateway to something else.

What a depressing read this was. Is someone forcing people to go shopping Thanksgiving night? Like anything else in life the day is what you make it, I will spend time with family, over eat, watch football, and probably go for a 4 mile run in the morning at Pilcher Park with other nutty people. And although I feel bad for anyone who works on a holiday, anyone working in retail kinda had an idea they may have to work holidays, along with a whole lot of other professions no one seems to care about. I know several people that are happy to be working Thanksgiving night, they say it will give them a chance to do some of their own shopping on black Friday like the rest of the masses. There is also a lot of people who would just be happy to have a job to go to, no matter what day it is.

We should be like the Canadians and celebrate Thanksgiving on the 2nd Monday in October. It's more in keeping with the actual "harvest" and you get a 3 day weekend.

I agree with Darin's comments. If people want to celebrate the day with family, great! If people want to go stand in line to be one of 4 people to get an extra $10 off a TV, let 'em.

I'm a retail store manager and we've been gearing up for Christmas for several months. But, personally, I'll be spending my Thanksgiving day with our family's annual Turkeybowl followed by some quality family time around the Thanksgiving dinner table. After that, I'm sure there'll be the traditional nap. Then, I'll get up Friday morning, head to the store and open the doors knowing there are still 30 days 'til Christmas without having sacrificed any of our great Thanksgiving traditions.

I do believe it is the families responsibility to keep the holiday spirits up, I feel laziness unfortunately is also starting to creep up during holiday times too. I remember when I was younger everything seemed more meaningful and grand than how it is now. Sad for our children to get the short end of the stick with holidays!

I agree with the comments that Thanksgiving is getting lost in all the commercialism of Christmas. I couldn't believe how many Christmas commercials ran before Halloween this year. It makes me sick! Not to mention the stores putting out Christmas decorations shortly after Labor Day. The only stores that should be able to sell Christmas items are the craft supply stores so that people can get a head start on their crafting. As long as people support the commercialism, the retailers are going to keep pushing Christmas earlier and earlier. We need to stop supporting that push. Let's focus on Thanksgiving and enjoy the season of fall. It is the most beautiful season but doesn't last long. Let us be thankful for the beauty all around us, our families and our freedom. There will be plenty of time next month to focus on Christmas and when that time comes, let us not forget the true reason for the season. I plan to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and hopefully leave memories of family with my children and not shopping. Happy Thanksgiving!!