CULTURE|PSYCHOLOGY|TRAVEL
You Would (Probably) Trade Thanksgiving For Black Friday Too
I didn’t expect this and am surprised by it all- you (probably) will be too
Thanksgiving has been a bit of an odd holiday for me most of my life.
I stopped eating meat by the time I was 18 years old because I didn’t like the texture of most meat.
Most Thanksgivings prior to that, I ate the breast meat with some gravy or hot sauce.
It was one of the few times a year that my small family ate at a table. Most times we ate on the couch while watching television.
I liked having such a wide variety of food, but my mom didn’t really like to cook. It was also somewhat awkward for my brother, my mother and I to sit at the table together for dinner. We joked around often, but seldom engaged in any real conversation.
Thanksgiving dinner rarely lasted more than 30 minutes before the television was back on.
I don’t have the same sentimental feelings about Thanksgiving that I see many others have. Any warmth about it completely died when I learned how Native-Americans view it.
I still wish my loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving. I even attended a family gathering for it 2 years ago, but my heart’s not in it.
This year, I’m in Germany, where Thanksgiving does not exist.
Most people here don’t know anything about Thanksgiving. Some know that it has something to do with having a big meal.
However, “Black Friday Weeks” DO exist and most Germans know about it.
“The first Black Friday in Germany was in 2006. Nowadays, 89% of Germans know Black Friday already. In 2017, more than one billion euros were spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend in Germany.”
For the first time EVER, I found myself looking forward to this week of sales. It’s my first time buying all new furniture for a home.
I happen to be moving in several weeks and had (still have) some important pieces of furniture to buy.
How lucky do I feel that I can take advantage of such timing.
However, it’s weird.
Even though most of the salespeople here are not pushy, I feel manipulated into buying “now!” so that I don’t miss out on “the deal of the year”.
However, in many cases, it’s true.
It IS the deal of the year.
Yesterday, I saved $300 or so on a couch for which I would have paid full price.
As I look at beds, and decide on one that I previously thought was out of my budget, I feel very grateful.
It’s fantastic…but takes some getting used to…
I think I can get used to this.
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